Is it possible to know the truth without challenging it first? 

A part of me will argue that you have to challenge everything before accepting it as truth; otherwise, you are susceptible to believing anything that someone tells you.

Yet I have another thought that sometimes you can know that something is right without investigating it at all.

I contend that you should often challenge the truth because even the wisest people don’t know when to accept something as it is.

When it Comes to Science

When it comes to knowing the truth, a good challenge is appropriate and should be welcomed because if what you are looking at is the truth, it will withstand any investigation or inquiry and still be the same afterward.

At one time, the most prestigious scientists believed wholeheartedly that the world was flat and that the Earth was the center of the universe.  Challenging either of these facts would have gotten you into a lot of trouble and certainly would have lost you any chance of advancement in a field of science. However, these ideas were proven to be false, and other thoughts took their place, to be challenged in their turn.

It seems that today, we feel like we know everything, and you should never challenge science. Who knows what we will learn next if we keep questioning things.  A question can never be a bad thing.

Social Norms Should Always be Challenged

Socially people seem to take a nearly deranged pleasure in putting people into groups. 

Fitting people into beautiful, neat little boxes based on dress, religion, sexual orientation, or even skin color provided an excuse for separation.

This type of discrimination has been systematically challenged and destroyed over the past one hundred years or so.

People who challenged societal norms always faced initial opposition, but after a concerted effort, there is more and more acceptance of all people. There are still challenges to make, but that seems to be the case for people. Growth comes after challenge.  I have to believe that the level to which we will accept differences will continue to grow.

Why do people hate to challenge

There is a lot of fear involved when the truth is challenged and found to be false, and some people doubt that if some idea they held as absolutely correct now is mistaken, then: What else are they wrong about in life?

This question can knock the sense out of people.  Some will accept the changes as a typical growth pattern, and knowing the truth shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing.

However, many people turn the opposite way and cling ever deeper to their beliefs, never wanting to let them go because it is just too scary for them.

Most of the time, the truth needs to be challenged because if it is the truth, it will stand up, and if it isn’t true, it will never lead to happiness.

Higher Power Challenge

Sometimes though, there are things that you have to accept as truth, even if you can’t see it one way or the other that they exist.  Any religious belief has to be undertaken this way because there is no proof of God’sGod’stence; we must accept it on faith.

What God is and if he exists is a debate that has affected the history of humanity for thousands of years.  Does that mean the idea of God shouldn’t be challenged?

No, not at all, but I am not sure what kind of experiment you could perform to see that God exists definitively.   When you look at all of the world’s religions, most of which differ only slightly in doctrine and practice, it is hard to believe that they could have all gotten it wrong.

But the conventional thought is not conventional wisdom.  For me, I think that there has to be a reason that we are all here to accomplish something and that there is a reason why we can reason, be creative, and make moral decisions.  Test away, and when you can prove God exists or not, I will listen with an open mind.

Still Seeking The Truth

For the most part, it is impossible to know the truth without testing it because the truth is everlasting and unapproachable; if something is correct, then testing, trials, or questioning won’t harm it in the least.

When it comes to things you can’t prove or challenge, like the existence of God, it has to come down to your faith.  Either we are a cosmic accident that happens to be here, or we are a magnificent creation to do great things if we let ourselves.

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

“He who has truth at his heart need never fear the want of persuasion on his tongue.”- John Ruskin.

“Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it.”

“Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons.”- Michael Jackson

One truth is we all want to get home again: