Jenny and Erin

What is truth? Does truth have to be literal to be true? Is there such as thing as non-literal truths? If so, how are they defined and when are they relevant? Can different “truths” be combined to create a deeper understanding?

Literal and non-literal truths are all around us. Literal truths are dependent upon verifiable facts. They are true only if they can be proven and viewed the same by all people. On the other hand, non-literal truths are not tied to verifiable facts and may not be viewed the same by everyone. Rather, they are tied to emotional, spiritual or psychological realizations of an individual or a society. Often both literal and non-literal truths bring us to similar conclusions - they just do it differently - literal truths through rational thought and non-literal truths through emotion.

For example, throughout time people have struggled to explain why people have different skin colors and whether the variance makes us fundamentally different from one another. Mythology has many answers to this question, but typically concludes humans came from one creator and are equal.

The Pueblo Indians have a myth of a creator magician who made humans. The magician’s assistant, a trickster coyote, kept messing with the different “batches” of humans. This caused some to turn out underdone, with white and pale skin, some overdone, with very dark skin and others “just perfect”, with red skin. Although the “just perfect” people happened to be Pueblo Indians, their mythology did not deem them better than others. This non-literal truth offers an explanation of why humans have different skin colors and concludes our similarities far outweigh the differences.

In recent years science has also been able to offer literal answers to these very same questions and coming to remarkably similar conclusions. Science has shown Melatonin is responsible for the differences in people’s skin tone. One’s level of melatonin corresponds to their environment over long periods of time, so people in certain parts of the world ended up with more melatonin as protection from the sun. DNA has further demonstrated how tiny the differences amongst the races are.

Humans are complex beings. We communicate, feel and learn on many levels and much about us remains a mystery even to modern science, but we are learning. Great advances have been made in understanding how the human mind works, the role of genetics, our environment and even space. But this knowledge has become confusing and disorientating for a many, only further alienating them from the very answers they are seeking. Both literal and non-literal truths are most powerful when combined to tell a complete story. How they are used is ultimately dependent upon the people using them.

Related Posts:
What is a Myth?
Understanding the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality
Picking Sides: Science or Spirituality

This entry was posted in Things I Don't Understand on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 by Jenny. You can follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.