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 Absolute Truth or Perception???? 
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Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 10:00 am
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Location: Newton-Conover Middle School- Newton, NC
One of the most difficult things I am confronted with in all realms of my life is truth! I am under the conviction that me make our own truths. Science has many ways of supporting research and reporting findings as factual or truthful, however, there appears to always be exceptions to the rules. Let me know if I am crazy for not trying to impose absolutes on some or all aspects of life.

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Amy E. Wilson


Thu Oct 30, 2003 12:19 pm
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AMy, I find myself tortured by this almost regularly. I believe in truths, but I also think they are far and few between. Most of the time I think we construct our own truths, and then assume that theyare true simply because we believe so. It is so hard to pinpoint a tuth down because knowledge is always evolving.
A great topic. I would love to hear what others say. I am at an impasse on this.

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"But we shall rightly call a philosopher the man who is easily willing to learn every kind of knowledge, gladly turns to learning things. and is insatiable in this respect." Socrates


Fri Oct 31, 2003 7:47 am
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Important topic, most times, truth is in the eye of the beholder, but I think it is important to at least attempt to agree on some fundamental truths (especially when applied to how we want to shape our futures, our children, etc). I think about truths in terms more of consensus than absolutes, which helps.


Tue Nov 04, 2003 11:44 am
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I think a danger is when people are so afraid of imposing their values on children that they don't give them some guidance, structure, and security. I think it is fine to tell teenagers that there are many things that they will need to think through and decide for themselves. There are many areas where people disagree, based on different perspectives and priorities. I think we can show tolerance, compassion, and openness to new ideas without having to be completely "loosy goosie" about everything. I am annoyed when people have few convictions of their own, and they say "whatever is true for you is fine". It makes me want to gag! However, learning about other cultures is fascinating, it does us good in many ways. It teaches us that not everybody thinks the same way, and it may cause us to question why we do what we do, and why do we think what we think.

Some teachers take certain good ideas, and twist them out of proportion. For example, I think it is good and proper to be concerned about a child's self esteem. However, I also believe that some teachers bend "way too far" in the opposite direction, doing a disservice to the child and the others around him. If a child is being a disruptive, ill-mannered jerk, infringing upon the rights of others, he needs to be told his behavior is unnacceptable, and appropriate consequences imposed. If he turns in careless or sloppy work, he needs to get a low grade, and be asked to do it over, when appropriate. A child's self esteem is not so fragile that we should avoid correcting him!

Some parents actually believe "if you give the child enough space he will eventually choose the right path". Some teenagers in our small town have felony drug convictions because their extremely indulgent parents truly believed in this philosphy!

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Joyce Jarrard


Wed Nov 05, 2003 6:49 pm
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JOyce, your posts have extremely interesting as of late. THis is the one I defitely agree with you on. I think of things like a pendulum sometimes. WHen we swing too far one way, lenient, then we usually come back harder the other way, strictyly. SO the challenge is finding a balance. SOmetimes you have to swing it just to get some change though.
I feel the same way about self esteem too. I know it hurts to be corrected (true for me) but we still learn by it. I think what you are getting at is what we do should be reasonable.
Thanks for sharing your opinion on this.

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"But we shall rightly call a philosopher the man who is easily willing to learn every kind of knowledge, gladly turns to learning things. and is insatiable in this respect." Socrates


Fri Nov 07, 2003 7:41 am
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I believe we need many absolute truths in understanding the many things that we do in this life. As an example, we could not get to the moon and back without relying on mathematical truths of calculus and geometry. These are exacting sciences. There are many things that are abstract, of course. It simply depends on what we are talking about.


Fri Nov 07, 2003 8:39 pm
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I totally agree with Joyce. Children need guidance and understanding in values. In my opinion, parents should give their children guidance and teach them values. As children grow they will form their own opinions but often times they rely on the guidance of their parents to help them. I know that this is not true in all cases, but I think the values children have gained as a child come back into play sometime in their life.
I feel one of our problems in society today is the "loosey goosey" attitude has allowed children and run wild without an understanding of conviction. In dealing with children on a daily basis I feel children don't understand why there are consequences for their actions.


Mon Nov 10, 2003 10:02 am
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