Chapter 5 There is only one truth, but who owns the truth is the question

When I was young, my family background was not good, and I suffered a lot. It may be because I didn’t have the opportunity to show off when I was young. After a long time, I took the initiative to give up self-expression. I didn’t dare to shout loudly when I needed it. Therefore, I learned a way of survival without self. .When I was young, many of my friends liked to say "my principles" very passionately.I followed suit, but soon I stopped.Because I found that the so-called "my principle" is actually always emphasizing that I have a "truth" that is better than others.In the final analysis, it is my own prejudice against myself. I always feel that I am right and others are wrong.Among many groups, this symptom of adolescence has become the source of war, the source of quarrel, the greatest obstacle to unity, and the greatest obstacle to our growth.

Reflecting on my adolescence now, I see a lot of absurdity.Many kinds of absurdity at that time had good motives, but they often had bad results.For example, if we advocate purity, we will always find "stains" in others; if we advocate morality, we will easily accuse others of being immoral;Embrace the ideal, but my word is the head.The word I here is not necessarily selfish, but self-centered. The most obvious thing is that I will not consult with others, only my own wishful thinking.Even if it is a good wish, wishful thinking may not be recognized by others.Without consultation, you can neither prove the correctness and feasibility of your own ideas, but may cause harm to others and yourself.

A country also has its own puberty. The period of the "Cultural Revolution" was an era when a large number of adolescent diseases emerged, but diseases were regarded as truth.Why can all kinds of movements that seem ridiculous now be carried out on such a large scale, and why have they received the greatest response especially among young people?This is not just a question of the times, I think it more or less has the inherent characteristics of our human adolescence itself. The core of the "my principle" that thinks the truth is in hand is to emphasize the self.Now that I'm older, I realize that any "truth" that causes a fight and expresses itself is not truth.

There is only one truth, but who owns the truth is a question.I saw a poet once said: "I believe in the truth, but I can't say it, for fear that others will take it as my discovery and my speech, which will cause disputes over ownership again. Therefore, I would rather not speak out and let the truth The seat is empty, and maintain awe in that direction. Most of the time, it is enough to have awe to imply the existence of truth.” The poet talked about the most difficult problem of our human beings: Everyone desires truth, but we struggle However, there are the most disputes and disasters under the banner of truth!It is quite dangerous to say that there is only one truth.There is only one of it, and there are very few people who own it.But often everyone thinks that he has the truth and is better than others.Striving to be smart and not to be a fool is the most common dispute in the world.Truth is by no means exclusive to individuals and a certain group, it must be for all mankind.Therefore, the power of truth first stimulates people’s motivation and behavior for consultation. For consultation, people should formulate a system of information transparency and information sharing. There should be no power class that monopolizes knowledge, there should be no shady information, and it should not be unfair because of knowledge. Communication has caused the intellectual inequality of human beings, let alone classify people into different classes.This requires everyone to have a fair opportunity to learn knowledge and to know the truth.We say that the first principle of consultation is equality, which not only includes equality in personality, but also requires that the relevant information needed around the topic of consultation must be transparent and accessible to everyone.In this way, people's analytical ability can stand at the same level, and communication and judgment can be truly effective.

It is necessary to create such a fair environment for seeking the truth, otherwise the truth will become many because everyone draws different conclusions based on different information, making people confused.We have seen conflicts among religious believers of their own beliefs, and struggles between different nations based on their own truths and other nations are still emerging one after another.One of the important responsibilities of UNESCO is to spread knowledge from developed countries to underdeveloped countries. It hopes to start from the basis of knowledge and information sharing, erase people's differences, and ultimately hope that people's "truth" will become less and less , the differences are less and less.

In the final analysis, truth should be beneficial to people, but not just a few people. Truth must be beneficial to all mankind to be considered truth.From the group to the individual, on the way to the truth, the most important thing is to eliminate the self. Elimination of self has become the consensus of people on the road to truth, but it is by no means an empty talk. It must be completed through deep understanding of others and consultation.We say that the purpose of consultation is to seek the truth that everyone can share, and another great function of consultation is that it can completely and effectively eliminate the self.