Table of Contents
A. Information
Information is a sensory description of anything that helps our brain create a model about that thing(living or non-living).
Eg:
a) Apple is sweet. (taste)
Not information:
a) Revenge is sweet.
B. Facts
Facts are linear sets of observations measured through a controlled experiment, over a definite set of objects, such that if another observer observes and conducts the same measurement on a different but similar set, results will be similar.
Following are two examples that will help you distinguish between what is a fact and what is not a fact.
Fact:
a) Mastery in any subject needs 10,000 hours of investment in a subject. (See the careers of Sachin, Picaso, and Vincci etc)
Not a fact:
c) 10,000 steps a day keeps you healthy(drink a beer bottle every day and try this!)
C. Perspective
Everyone’s senses are different and they may see/feel/smell/taste the same things differently.
Example of perspective:
1)📦 It is a box (isometric perspective)
2) 🗃️ It is a file folder from the front perspective.
3) Adipurush is Ramayan from a Cocaine brain perspective.
Examples that are not a perspective:
1) Boys and girls are the same (front view, top view, isometric, smell, touch, and voice, don’t you talk about taste)
D. Feelings
If one gets a good positive hormonal state(increased energy) by accepting a statement, that can be a combination of facts, views, information, or can be none, then it is a “feeling.” Of course, feelings are personal.
Example of a Feeling that is neither a truth, nor lie, nor a fact, nor even an information:
1) Men should respect women (feelings)
(Fact)
No woman/girl in the history of humanity has married a guy who even once addressed her by “mam.” Most woman never feels good if their husband earns less than her and respects them for that.
E. Point
The binary state of a one-dimensional fact/information is called a point.
So, if you view this post as “definition simplification” then the point of the post is:-
a) Don’t use sentences without understanding their meaning.
or
b) Rupam writes to get popularity.
F. Opinion
Any information/statement/fact is accepted or rejected by the brain without any change in the feelings but based on convenience.
Eg:
Adipurush is for the moral learning of the youth. (by makers)
G. Lie
Narrating any statement that one doesn’t believe, and at the time of narration gets a negative feeling and yet narrates with an aim to make other(s) feel good or believe as fact is a lie.
Example of a lie
Earning a lot of money secures marriage. (Ask Bill Gates!)
H. Cliche
A poetic short statement, that is neither a fact, feeling, or point, but a belief to make the statement appear real by enabling easy recitation and repetition.
Example of a cliche.
“Fortune favors the brave.” (be brave, and tell the mistake of your boss in a meeting).
I. Truth
Information or fact that remains the same from at least 4 or greater dimensions(like History, Evolution, Science, Mathematics, Ethology, etc), can be proven by the laws of the universe and mathematics, and one that doesn’t change over time, as the laws of the universe don’t change.
Example:
Sun is the only star in the solar system! (Telescope, Geometry, Astronomy, Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics).
Not truth:
Shahrukh khan is a star!
J. Insights
An insight is information, fact, observation, or truth that is the result of an action that is applied by the provider in a problem situation or in taking a decision to get benefitted from the action to provide proof for the action to be beneficial under a particular situation so that the listeners(or readers) can also apply the insight in the same problem situation to get the similar beneficial results.
Example of an insight:
i) Not understanding correct definitions may result in disastrous decisions.
(Definition about anything is truth. Denying or being ignorant of the truth may put someone into an imaginary world, away from reality. Any action or decision taken without staying, in reality, may not result in a desirable outcome in the real world. And so denying the definitions will result in unfavorable outcomes. Hence the statement is true, and can be applied in a decision-making situation, and hence is also an insight).
Example of not an insight:
i) Always be strong and independent
(The word strong means one who can take more load, and in the lateral sense it means who can take the heavy emotional load, or one remains unbroken during emotionally devastating situations. Independent means one whose thoughts, actions, survival, emotions, and feelings are not altered by others. Let’s say one has lost her child. Biologically one is wired to break down in grief. Grief exists because it helps one to also experience pain and feel the sheer loss of a near one. Without the experience of loss, no one can care about not losing something. So, if the mother who lost her child tries to apply the statement “be strong and independent” then she has to detach herself from grief and deny the pain. In such a situation, she denies her motherhood itself. Now she is under the influence of the sentence, not the reality which is the grief of the death of her child. Thus this statement is not an insight)
K. Bullshit
A truth is a statement that remains same over the time, can be proven scientifically, can be observed from more than three dimensions, can not be disapproved logically or mathematically, and is something that the narrator believes, as well as feels while narrating.
A lie is a statement that the narrator doesn’t believe, feels bad while narrating, and yet narrates with an intention to alter the belief system of the listener so as to derive some benefit.
A false is a statement that the narrator believes as truth(it is not a mistake as we are not born with eternal knowledge and we may believe in wrong things) but is not a truth and there is no intention of changing the reality of the listener.
The important thing is all three, the truth-teller, the liar, and the ignorant who are stating false cares about the truth. A liar wants to conceal the truth. The ignorant don’t know the truth, but the false statement is the truth for him/her. The truth-teller obviously cares for the truth.
There is a fourth category associated with the truth, which is bullshit.
A bullshit is a statement that is stated without any care about the truth. Bullshit is a statement that one gives without knowing if it is true, false, or a lie, without any intention of the benefit of the listener, or changing the reality of the listener, but with the sole motivation of appearing knowledgable before others.
Example of Bullshit:
A VC stating “Data is the new Fuel”
(This is bullshit because human civilization existed even before there was any data. Records have to be managed from pre-modern human times, as several cave markings have been discovered. Humans would have died if we were not the explorers. Exploration requires fuel. When our ancestors left Africa when the sea water was low, they used legs as transport and food as fuel, then they used boats, where the wind became fuel, the bullocks, and horses, then coal and steam engine, and later petrol. And so fuel drives civilization.
When the VC states the statement, he hasn’t cared to read history, or evolution, or thought through the logic; he doesn’t intend to influence others to believe in the statement; all he wants here is to appear knowledgable before the others, and so this is a bullshit!)
Harry Frankfurt, a famous philosopher whose 2005 bestselling book “Bullshit” became a New York time bestseller provides a fascinating new model that is neither a truth nor a lie but is more dangerous than all.
L. Conclusion
I wrote this post after observing several readers of mine use fact/truth/information/opinion/feelings interchangeably.
Another reason for this post is to answer the question, “Who decides the truth? Everyone’s truth is different.”
Females give birth to babies, and becoming a mother is a truth.
It is true for monkeys, elephants, and humans(ethology), it was a truth for chimpanzees(evolution), it was true in Rome(history), it is true in India, and in America, and everywhere else(geography). Because the statement is consistent across multiple dimensions, it is a truth.
Your professional success and interpersonal relationship success depend upon your understanding of definitions, practicing the right meanings, and using them in your communication. In today’s world, almost 80% use statements based on how they feel or believe and so most people have poor conversation and communication strength in professional life.
This is the number one reason for you being misunderstood and misinterpreted. Stop using loose definitions and you are already amongst the top 20 professionals.
