Things are not what they seem. Nor are they otherwise.

cloudhead
by headmine.net

truth

“I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.“
Could a 21st century knowmad take that oath?
Truth is no longer carved in stone, or written in ink
it flickers and flashes at the speed of light.
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything I say.”
- McLuhan

Our courtrooms and governments, schools and churches
all grew out of the truth of clocks and tidy rows of text
the truth of assembly lines
and butterflies pinned down in glass cases.

But a new kind of truth is emerging from the logic of the net
and it defies all logic.
This is the truth of ecology and relationship
the truth of hip hop and electricity
and bodies dancing.
In this web of instant information, truth is no longer a chain of facts but a collision of contradictions and co-incidences.

Reason and logic have given way to image and emotion
and truth has once again begun to unravel like a Zen poem.

Things are not what they seem.
Nor are they otherwise.
- Lankavatara Sutra

To which I bow in reverence, yet feel inclined to add:

I acknowledge truth is relative and context matters.
When you have evidence and facts - the victim and the blood,
the suspect in fear, what will we hear?
"The truth"? The suspect's truth? Our prejudice? Or something in between?

Truth to me is akin to reality. In the end, based on agreement.

Would you agree?


Image: Monad to infinity, by CoCreatr, (i) inspired by Venessa and by Catherine Beyer

Mon, Jun 7, 2010  Permanent link
Categories: art, inspired, advance

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