From Bobby to Brian

July 19, 2009

Hey

Man, I’ve been having these incredible conversations this weekend about TRUTH. What it means, how to express it, if it should be expressed in certain situations, etc…

For me personally I value the truth above all else. I think that is where loyalty as a friend, trust, honesty, and communication all start and end. For instance, I can’t stand when people pussy-foot around an issue. To me, there is always a bottom line and it may take some thought to get to it, but it is there. I think people lie to themselves and in the process lie to people around them to help them deal with the fact they can’t own up to the truth. Maybe for fear of hurting the person, of maybe because they aren’t conscience of it themselves. I guess for me it just comes down to the fact that I like to know where I stand at all times. And if the answer hurts, well then I can move on and get on with my life instead of creating different scenarios in my head. Lying is like a drug I think. People need it to get by and use it as a shield to make themselves feel like there was a valid reason for their actions, when in reality they are just tearing down walls that may have taken years to build.

This sounds like a really negative email, but I’m trying for it not to come across that way. I guess it’s just that every time you turn on the tv, radio, whatever, you are bombarded with differing accounts of what actually happened in a certain situation. Whether is politics, celebrity gossip, the weather. And when it hit’s close to home that’s when you really feel burned. Whoever said “the truth shall set you free” was not messing around when they said that. It’s really what it’s all about.

I’m finally all moved into my dads!!!! It’s great. It’s nice to have some sense of normalcy and a feeling of a “home-base”. Something I haven’t had since March.

Hope you’re well my friend. Talk to you soon.

Bobby.

From Brian to Bobby

July 20^th, 2009

I hear what you are saying. Truth is incredibly important. It’s the basic building block of freedom, but it’s so illusive, and I do believe “nuanced”. I really can’t define it, when I think about it. I have a sense of what it is, a strong sense, but my inability to clearly define it is troubling.

I think I might make a distinction that, by my attempt to say what it is, “truth” seems like the starting point for “self-determination”. Where we feel cheated is when some other persons definition of truth hampers our ability to be free to do what you want to do, to make decisions for ourselves, to live the way we want to live.  It seems truth comes in the presense of freedom, self determination, and justice, but take any of those away and truth seems to be compromised.

You hit me with a mind bender! I mean, I can fully understand your desire to have accurate, unbiased, information, especially when it comes to being able to live how you want to live. It’s occurring to me, though, that sometimes “truth” can appear to be “in the eye of the beholder”. Take for instance the war on terror. The US sustains an attack, many innocent Americans are killed, and as a nation we’re scarred for life. So to many of us, it seems that “truth, justice and the American way” needs to be protected at ALL costs. The most extreme take it to another level, where they think they are fighting for truth, but really they are avenging  “our lost innocence”. Next thing you know we have prisons filled with people who didn’t do anything in Cuba. Somewhere along the way “truth” was bastardized, though arguably in the name of “love” and a desire to “return to innocence”, ignorant as it may be.

And yet, “truth” when it comes to simple facts, is really easy to maintain. It’s the opposite of falsehood. A simple fact such as “it’s night time” is easy to find concensus on when it’s midnight, but as soon as “night time” is up for interpretation, or becomes metaphorical, then all bets are off. Midnight is 12AM, and “AM” means morning to us generally, and morning and night seem opposed.

For some reason I have these opened up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor_of_the_sun

I sound like I am making argument for argument sake. I’m really not. I’m just perplexed.

So that’s great you moved in with your dad. That’s in Malvern, right? I like that photo you sent. Is that the view? How’s your rib? How are you doing in general? What’s your exercise schedule like for this week?

B

From Bobby to Brian

July 20^th, 2009

Yeah I think it’s like you said, “truth is in the eye of the beholder”. I like the Alllegory of the Cave story you sent. It’s kind of a complicated way of saying the same thing, but an interesting way nonetheless. It brings to mind (of all things) Roger Clemens. Whether he did steroids of not (and evidence strongly suggests that he did) the fact is, HE believes -truly believes- that he did not do them. I think that even if he did do them, he has truly convinced himself that he hasn’t. What would it take for him to realize that he did them? Probably a video of him shooting up in the training room. And if he saw that, could he even handle it? Would he go off the deep end? Who knows.

But the whole concept of “the truth” really is a mind bender and it’s a concept that, like you said, has so many interpretations unless it directly opposes another falsehood. Who knows, though we all were not created equally (in the physical sense) so what I see could be completely different from what you see. I mean, really what exactly is the color Blue? Also it ties into all sorts of conceptions of time and fear and happiness…

In the end, I suppose we just see what we want to see and leave the rest up to someone else to figure out, or obsess about, or maybe not even care about. I kind of took from Plato’s allegory that ultimately in the end he alluded to the fact that we will all answer to a higher power since how can decisions be made by people who have never had to experience any of these situations? My friends dad once said (and this is breaking it WAY down) “All rat bastards suck the pipe in the end.” A maybe not-so fitting conclusion to this email, but it’s what I’m signing off on.

My exercise schedule is going well! That private yoga lesson was a little too much for me the other day so I am still REALLY sore but I am still doing my Quigong and more of the easier yoga poses that are doing wonders for me. Yeah my Dad’s place is in Malvern, but really in Valley Forge, lot’s of space for my mind to create. I’m TRULY TRULY lucky and blessed. I do my exercises amongst the pines as Oscar runs around chasing butterflies and having fun with the kids.

Ok talk to you soon.

Love/Bobby.

From Brian to Bobby

July 20^th, 2009

I never really understood that Allegory of the Cave, to be honest. As I was reading your first email, I kept thinking about it… “maybe this is what it’s about?” It may or may not be…

For some reason, also, I consistently find situations where I want to reference the game “rocks – paper – scissors”, and this may be another. Sometimes I think truth is relative in the same way a rock smashes scissors, paper, covers the rock and scissors cut the paper. In more cases than not, the “beholder” may have three points of reference to qualify the truth, as opposed to two (ie, x or the opposite of x).

And yeah, Roger Clemens… The truth is relative to what you absolutely BELIEVE it is.

So listen…with yoga, you have to work through that soreness. At least stretch out everyday, even if you are not going to do a full practice. This is where that “dissociation of pain” thing works really well. If you are stretching your hamstring, and it is really sore, be gentle but look at your leg and say “there’s my leg…it’s stiff…that’s the feeling of my leg being stiff”. It really works. It somehow lets you ease past it. Obviously, be careful and again be gentle. By a week from now, you won’t have to deal with as much stiffness.

B