I was watching a football match with my 10 year-old son last night and there was an incident during the game. Just before the incident the game was finely balanced, and suddenly the referee made the decision to dismiss one of the players for foul play. The effect of this dismissal was quickly felt and the balance of power shifted for the remainder of the game. After the game there was what can only be described as an outpouring of rage (from fans of the team that suffered the dismissal) and justification (from fans of the team that benefited from the dismissal).
This reminds me of a wonderful idea that I came across a few years ago in a book written by Charles Tilly. The book is simply titled ‘Why?’. The subtitle perhaps gives more away: ‘What happens when people give reasons.. and why?’
In the book Tilly, a university professor at the time and who now is sadly no longer with us, explains the role of ‘reason giving’. This is how we each make sense of situations and often lies at the heart of how two individuals (or groups) can observe the same situation and take fundamentally different views on what happened.
This led me to think about our notion of truth. It would be wonderful to believe that in our society there is such a thing as the absolute truth. We even use that exact expression, saying “I swear, that’s the absolute truth” as if that is some kind of scientific absolute akin to the freezing point of Mercury.
There is no absolute truth about anything it seems, just different perspectives each working hard to justify their reasons for thinking and feeling like they do. So what do we do now if there is no absolute truth? When I think about situations that cause deep division between sides I suggest some attentive listening, some searching questions, and absolute honesty and candour from both sides. Somewhere in the middle of all that lies a form of truth that everyone can accept as the best possible compromise.
Here’s a link to a nice article on Tilly’s book ‘Why?’ from The New Yorker Magazine.
Justin's 'Just One Thing..' 