In the world we most immediately inhabit, in that world we create by what we do, in the human world, in that political world that is the product of our choices, the world that is the "civilization" that is our glory, it is opinion, not truth, that determines the debate.
Since this is so, we should be wary of placing too much weight on what we are so certain must be right.
At times I think there are no words
But these to tell what's true
There are no truths
Outside the Gates of Eden.
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In debates where the topic is something objective, something knowable about nature, something shown to be true by the process of science, opinion has no place whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteJames, the whole point of my "Two Worlds" hypothesis is that there ARE truths, real truths, in the World of Nature. The Natural World is not a human creation, and while we can learn about it, we did not create it, and the truths of that world are not changeable. In Dylan's metaphor, and in the Bible, the World of Nature is "Eden." Dylan says, and I agree, that there are NO truths outside the gates of Eden. In other words, in the world we most immediately inhabit, since we do not live, anymore, directly within the Natural World, there are NO truths at all. What we have is "opinions." We go wrong when we want to treat our "opinions" about life within the human world as "truths." I don't know whether you'd agree with that or not, but this insight, for me, has profound and important implications for how we live our lives in the world we make.
ReplyDeleteHumans do literally and metaphorically live in the Natural World. There is no line, literal or metaphorical, which separates us from nature. Eden is and always has been the Earth. Some of those truths in the World of Nature are knowable by the scientific method. Humans can posses knowledge. Opinions aren't knowledge.
DeleteThis "Two Worlds" idea is not an hypothesis. Hypothesis can be disproved by experiment. What you have is a worldview. It allows you to frame any idea in terms of this, your own personal vague poetic analogy.
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