There was a story, once, that wanted to know how true it was.
This story had heard rumors that it wasn't true.
The rumors went like this:
It couldn't have happened this way.
It could never happen like that.
It's not believable.
The story was confused;
was the "it" the story's characters or the story's whole being?
The story had been taught to believe in itself.
It was confident that it really happened
and that it could explain stories that might happen in the future
or that were unfolding right now.
So the story went to see an idea.
The idea was much shorter and simpler than the story.
The story had heard so many rumors about the idea that
the idea must know how to defend itself
to maintain its self-concept.
People would say about the idea:
This can't be true unless so many other things are true.
It doesn't fit with what I've seen.
There are far better ideas than this one.
The idea seemed relieved to share its experience with the story.
The story asked,
"How do you keep hold of yourself when so many seem so skeptical about you?"
The idea responded,
"I can see now that I am not a single thing;
I cannot be separated from the places in which I'm applied.
I am like a puzzle piece, but I am made of tiny magnets;
I rearrange depending on the shape and magnetism
of the other puzzle pieces around me.
I have come to realize that it is a misuse of me
to apply me universally
to worship me
to believe in me
as if I were a scientific fact.
We should talk to a fact I know about this,
though.
I believe they are supposed to be a bit more true
than either of us."
The story reflected on what the idea had said.
"I think I'm like you, as you've described yourself.
We are like plants, which change,
depending on the sunlight
and the soil
and the water available,
and we are even more variable,
because our DNA can change
in addition to the way we grow.
I would like to see if a fact could shed more light
on this question
of how to move forward
when truth and certainty seem so dependent
on everything else
outside of ourselves."
So the story and the idea went to see the idea's friend.
And the fact seemed shaken when they approached.
"I just learned that I may not be true.
The research that created me has been advanced
and while I was accepted as a true thing
it hadn't been made sufficiently clear
that I was conditionally true
and that true is a concept
that does not stand the test of time
or scrutiny
or skepticism.
But I've also been reassured
that in my time
I deserved the respect
that I received
and that I will be remembered
as a critical building block
in the chain of knowledge."
The story thought about this and mused,
"It seems like we are all conditional
and transient
and relative
and that while we shouldn't become full of ourselves
we should remember where we came from,
think carefully about where we are going
and consider what we mean in light of new and old information."
"Not a satisfying conclusion," the idea intoned,
"but it seems reasonably true."
"One thing I know for sure:
it's nice to have more of us around."
The story was satisfied
that the truth is
that making more
is more important
than being true.
Roman Ryan 