The Latent Lunatic

Lies lucidly, leaving little, losing less, laughing both with and at the ones who think themselves the guardians of truth, for only he holds the keys to unlimited imagination. Limits are for fools who believe that the narrowness of their minds is a shield against that which is unknown, but the truly unlimited mind needs no shield, for it is the source of those unknowns, the fount of terrors, the realization of the reality of fantasy.

Who can say that the perception of the unexpected is false? Is there one who has never observed something that no one else saw? Who is right, the viewer or the denier?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth" which is, of course, just a restatement of Occam's Razor with a bit of a twist.

Those who have read earlier posts will recognize my theme here. There are plenty of adages and fables regarding truth and the impossibility of certainty when it comes to belief. What is a fact, and what is merely wishful thinking? History is full of examples of "facts" which were "disproved" later by science. The scare quotes are intended to demonstrate that these never were facts to be disproved, merely wishful thinking or maybe political correctness that needed debunking. There was never anything to prove, one way or the other. They were merely convenient beliefs, existing because someone, or some group, gained something by espousing them as truth. See religion, all brands and all times: and practically every 'ism that you can find.

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other.

Jascha Heifetz (1901 - 1987)

How true. How about this: No matter what the argument, or your side in it, there are always unpleasant implications of your position.

Is that true? Is it possible to have a belief or opinion, where the facts are incomplete, that doesn't have a negative component?

Facts are facts. They have no agenda and don't discriminate. They simply ARE, stark and unchanging regardless of what we might believe or wish.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have opinions, only that we must recognize the difference between hope and fact. And that having an opinion contrary to fact is a sure sign of lunacy.

Is that a fact?