Week 4 - You've Got to be Kidding!

This weeks “How I know” assignment was definitely a brain stretch. The specifications said to “write a brief essay (a minimum of 150 words).” My first thought was, “Yeah, right, you’ve got to be kidding! An entire book could be written on this subject!” It certainly was an interesting question to ponder (and ponder I did). I managed to keep my essay to just under 350 words. However, there was no way I could fully develop my thoughts or support my arguments in those four little paragraphs. It is indeed an important question to think about when doing research. What we think we know, and how we think we know something is true or accurate, certainly influences our approach to research and how we filter information.

Here is a reprint of "How I know"...

My personal theory regarding, “How do I know what I know, and how do I know it is true,” is this: Only God really knows. Only what God has made true, is truth.

I believe God has given us revelations and we humans spend our time on earth trying to discover the truth and reality of those revelations – the revelation of his written story (the Bible), the revelation of himself in human form (Jesus), and the revelation of a physical universe (life and nature). I also believe that God gave man freewill and therefore we are capable of creating our own reality. We are able to record, document, and communicate what we know and learn. I believe that experience and observation helps us define and sort out truth, but ultimately there is a measure of subjective interpretation in every discovery or conclusion we make, and there is a varying measure of faith in everything we think we know.

What I know is that God knows. I know that I want to discover what he knows to be true. I know that even for those things which he has directly revealed to man, it is a continual challenge to sort out what may just be an interpretation rather than what is. I know that any truth that is not a direct revelation from God, is actually just a probable truth based on evidence and/or experience - everything else is just tradition or theory.

In the case of the origin of the word “Canuck,” there are theories but no solid evidence regarding its origin. On the other hand, we do know there is a word “Canuck.” Because it is our nature to inquire, we can (and do) search for evidence as to what is the truth regarding its origin. There are several theories based on both historical records and oral traditions. In this case, there is no evidence to say one theory is more probable than another, and thus we continue to say “origin unknown.” Ultimately, all I really know is that God knows the answer to this question.