How DO YOU determine what the'truth' is?

I read PRAVDA

If you are talking about the political cr@p we are being subjected to right now I go by my memory. Most of the stuff I hear is lies slanted toward the goals of the purveyor. Right now I'm hearing how my governor who is running for the US Senate gave us a balanced budget and lower taxes. What huge lies!!! The first budget she submitted to the legislature was so far above any previous budgets I thought it was a political joke when I first heard of it. By law our budget has to be balanced so SHE didn't do that, our legislature trimmed the budget she submitted to do it and she HAD to sign it. However they did give her some of her proposals by raising "fees" not taxes. They keep our "taxes" low by calling them "fees" such as the $30 that was added to everyone's car registration. Most of the people I talk to, both young and old have no idea how our state government works so they believe those lies. They don't know the law says we have to have a balanced budget and the governor only proposes, the legislature disposes. The governor DID NOT give us a balanced budget but it plays well in TV ads.

So I am blessed with being old enough to remember many of the things they falsely claim in political ads and I actually paid enough attention to know the difference.

the Bible is truth

a lot is the source of the information

the news-take it with a grain of salt
people-they lie to me all the time
friends-believe

wife/family-believe

it really depends

If my wife says it, it's the truth.
I better believe it, and that's a fact --- Jack.

Increasingly, I think there is no such thing as "truth". Rather, there are truths, plural.

I have lived in different countries, each of which have their own version of history, all of which are true to them, for instance. If they believe something to be true, that belief will impact the way they act, and so it has a real consequence. Understanding the truths of other people can help us better understand them, whether politically, in a relationship, or whatever.

Health wise?

Well, I look around. When relevant, I listen to my doctor, but I also look around. I'll usually look around on the web before even going to the doctor, such as when I was bitten by a feral cat recently, I first Googled first aid protocols, and only then saw a doctor, after being pretty convinced that was necessary as I couldn't remember the last time I had gotten a tetanus shot.

If I were to have symptoms that debilitated me but my doctor dismissed as nothing, I'd listen to my body's symptoms as "truth" over what the doctor said. I'd look around and try to figure out what was going on, then get a second or third opinion, whatever it takes.

What about scientific studies about health issues? I read the ones I am interested in if they're not behind a pay wall. When reading news about them, because they are behind a pay wall, I compare different sources and see what they say, if the issue is relevant to me personally, because reporting can diverge quite a bit.

Oh, pseudo-science? Alternative treatments? Some might help but I prefer to go with the "truth" offered by the scientific method. It might be incomplete, but at least it is based on a solid methodology.

It seems to me that the scientific method has become more political than scientific and much of our history has become what is considered politically correct. Many young people of today think we started WWII when we bombed Japan. Whose version of history would that be?

I just went through about $10,000 of medical tests this summer before I figured out what was wrong with me. A week after I figured it out the doctor agreed with me saying it looks like you diagnosed it yourself. Sometimes they just go after the wrong thing. What they did and the tests they prescribed were all appropriate as far as I'm concerned but they are not the people living inside my body.

I'd never heard of that before. Where do you get the idea that "many" young people believe that? And to get even more annoying, how do you define "young people"? I'd have to say that that version of history is the history of the uninformed, but there may be other explanations. (Care to offer any?)

I have to agree with you regarding the scientific method being political in the sense that, when private interests come into play, results are skewed, though. You have to look at who funds studies. And yes, they do go after the wrong things or have no idea where to look sometimes. A friend of mine has had low grade fevers, labored breathing and a total lack of energy for a whole month now. A whole battery of tests showed up exactly nothing. Clearly something is wrong with her, no? But what? Nobody knows. She's left guessing, and that sucks.

Anyway, this is an interesting topic. I came to SteadyHealth for the beauty forum so it's cool to see this kind of thing here. I'm a member of several different forums and some of them are really weird about going off topic, so I definitely tend to keep to health related here, but I guess history falls under psychology in some way, and that that is health related? :)

That seems to be a rather common misconception that shows up in surveys I've seen on TV and read about. They usually target high school age to college age kids.

They used to be quite up tight about topics here so we asked them for a "small talk" category so we could discuss other things. Years ago BBfeet2 and I started a "comedy club" category because we were having a great time going back and forth at/with each other with a few others. I don't know if that ones still around, she dropped off the forum several years ago when she found a special person.

How long have you been on here? A long time judging by your post count!

I had to go check my profile for that. I joined in July of 09. There are some others still on who were here before me. It's been interesting and fun at times but it gets tiring when you see the same questions over and over.

I read a magazine called The Ultimate Truth There's only two authors but they're always right. One of them is nuts though.

and the other one eats them

I connect with Fox Mulder telepathically and he gives me all the answers I need.

BIG FAT 1!!!!