December 15, 1999. Christmas morning at my grandmother’s
house in Springfield, Mass. While kids around the country were tearing wrapping
paper and joyously playing with their new toys, my six year old self was laying
in my bed devastated. I had just found out Santa Clause was not real.
I laid there angrily crying for a few minutes until me dad
entered the room. He quickly swept me up, sat me on his lap, and gave me a big
hug. As I started to calm down he began to explain to me in a very hushed tone
why he had lied. He told me that even though Santa wasn’t a real person, his
spirit still existed in our hearts. People around the world chose to keep him
“alive” because he represented joy. My dad ended his explanation by telling me that even though it
wasn’t the real truth, I should continue believing in Santa in order to keep
the Christmas spirit alive.
Little did I know, but my dad at that moment was explaining
to me something much more than the belief in Santa Claus: he was explaining to
me the difference between truth and truthiness. Truth is accepting the
unquestionable proof that something is the case not matter what the
consequences of it may be. Truthiness, on the other hand, is not fully
acknowledging the truth and instead going with the gut feeling in order to
benefit yourself and others around you.
As a scientists, I struggled with this distinction growing
up. I had been taught in all of my classes that, as a scientist, I must search
for the truth by objectively examining the world. Only by knowing the truth
will our society be able to make the right decisions. When ever I tried to
employ this life strategy though, the idea of truthiness became stuck in the
back of my mind and I would begin to question if finding the truth was the
right thing to do.
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