What is truth? I define truth as something that can never be altered or changed. Truth is like the light of everything where as falsehood or anything that is the polar opposite of truth is the darkness that blinds us from this truth. Our minds may think of falsehood as something that we are used to thinking and that this false belief has been embedded within us. People, like me, sometimes hide the truth from others because we are carry this fear of how others will react to or if others will perceive us as "terrible" people after telling them the truth.
One of the quotes that relates to my personal life is Mark Twain's quote saying that,
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't" -- Mark Twain
Fiction is something that is not real and that there are several possibilities and definitions as to what fiction really is. Fiction and censorships are the things that again, represents darkness and our minds are used to believing that fiction is true. One example I want to use would be my experience with learning about history. During my history class in elementary school, my teacher told me that Christopher Columbus was a hero who discovered America. When I got to high school, I read Howard Zinn's book "A People's History of the United States", which said that Columbus and his Spaniard armies were murders that committed genocide in eliminating the people that once lived in America. It was hard for me to accept that Columbus was a villain and not a hero and I thought that it was awkward and "strange" when I found out his true colors since I never thought of him as a wrongdoer. However, as I learned more about him, I began to accept this truth more and more to the point where my mind was used to believing that he was a villain.
Although censorship is a dark aspect that prevents young ones from seeing the truth, people, such as those who are running the media, believe it is needed because they do not want the young ones to grow up carrying negativity and are unable to understand the truth.
Another saying that relates to this is another one of Mark Twain's quote which is,
"If you tell the truth, you won't have to remember anything." -- Mark Twain
Telling the truth is painful to go through because we often think of consequences, mostly the negative ones, of what may happen when others find out about this truth. I sometimes lie to my parents, mostly about my grades and other things regarding school, because I do not want to get yelled at or disappoint them. One example that I want to bring up was the time when I was on the verge of failing one of my physics classes here at SFSU. Whenever my mother asked me how I was doing in ALL of my classes, I would lie by saying that I was doing good and that I was handling everything well. After telling her this, I started to have anxiety and was having difficult times staying focused with my studies because I feared about how she would react if she found out I did not pass ONE class. Finally, I told her the truth that I was REALLY failing my physics class and although she was somewhat disappointed, she accepted the truth and told me to do my best and that I cannot be afraid of failure. I felt more at ease for studying for my finals since I was able to let go of my stress and I did not have to think about all of the mistakes I have made in the past and the things that may happen in the future. In the end, I was able to miraculously pass all of my classes (including my Physics class).
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