Classification: Science, Philosophy, and Religion.
Title: What is truth?
The main text: In 2007, I actively thought about what truth is. At that time, I met Mrs. Qiu at Harvard University, along with a group of outstanding individuals from Harvard, MIT, and Lincoln Laboratory. I was profoundly and lastingly influenced by them, especially Mrs. Qiu. Mrs. Qiu was excellent; later, she trained her child to become a young professor at Harvard Medical School and established a laboratory named after her surname. Moreover, she deliberately avoided her father's influence, having a different surname from her father's English surname for the laboratory. Inspired by this group of excellent individuals, I will now talk about my understanding of the concept of truth.
Next, I will elaborate from three dimensions: religion, philosophy, and science.
1. From a religious perspective: truth is the law by which the Creator creates and operates the world. This law is a code, the coding of the super program beyond the universe for the creation and operation rules of the material world. Among them, the law of conservation of energy is the most fundamental law governing the operation of the material world, while the laws of conservation of momentum and angular momentum are the most basic laws maintaining the stability of the material world.
The process of discovering truth is the process of exploring the super programmer beyond the universe. Just like a programmer learns from programming guides. Applying truth and creating inventions means that humans mimic this super programmer, writing programs to drive and control the material world.
Gauss's famous saying: The shallow-minded distance themselves from God. The knowledgeable draw near to God. The best closeness is for humans to live more like gods, with character like gods, filled with love, truth, and all positive manifestations, but without the great power of gods. Abstractly speaking, there is only one human in the world, just as there is only one God; this human is called humanity. Humanity must be like God, possessing great power, and the way to operate this world is to explore truth, apply truth, thus making humanity the master of the material world. The Jews believe that exploring truth is the key to the gates of heaven. Therefore, in science, many major truths are discovered by Jews. The Bible also says that truth is the way, the path to enter the kingdom of heaven. Thus, many significant scientific discoveries currently come from countries of biblical faith. Countries or ethnic groups that do not value truth from a faith perspective rarely have individuals who achieve the Nobel Prize.
2. From a philosophical perspective: from the viewpoint of the Dao De Jing, the Dao is the highest law in the universe. The Dao adheres to all things, and all things are 'stuck' together and 'live'. 'Living' means 'the Dao gives birth to all things', thus the Dao gives birth to virtue (the forms of all things). This adherence is the connection of all things. Truth is implied in these connections. The inversion of the Dao from virtue is the pursuit of truth; the Dao is truth. The Dao has various classifications: the Dao of Heaven, the Dao of Humanity, the Dao of Things, but ultimately, they are all the highest laws adhering to all things, the laws by which all things must 'live and operate'.
3. From a scientific perspective, truth is a law. For example, the Pythagorean theorem, the law of universal gravitation, etc. Truth has the following characteristics:
3.1 Truth is not constrained by time or space. It is past, present, and eternal. The laws of gravity on Earth are the same in New York and Moscow.
3.2 Truth is unrelated to experimental methods. Galileo threw two copper balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which can demonstrate the existence of gravity. An apple falling on Newton's head can also demonstrate the existence of gravity.
3.3 Organization is unrelated to measurement. The measured numbers may differ, but the patterns between the numbers are the same. All different angles of measured numbers are constrained by laws.
3.3 Invariants are the best way to embody truth. For example, the theory of special relativity is built on two invariant foundations: the speed of light is constant, and the laws are invariant under inertial reference frames.
4. There is a realm of being a person: to transform others with the Dao, to guard the Dao oneself. Constantly let truth fill people's minds, allowing people's actions to follow truth.
If a robot acts according to human instructions, it is the correct way for the robot to live according to human desires. Then, humans live according to the instructions of the super programmer beyond the universe, which is the correct way to live according to the super programmer's desires. Allowing people to freely and actively choose, denying their inherent inertia and corrupt nature, exploring truth (truth is the coded instructions or laws), and living according to those coded instructions. Only by adhering to truth can humans achieve eternal life, becoming more and more like gods. We remember the truth of universal gravitation, thus remembering its discoverer Newton, who lives eternally in the spiritual world of human society. As long as humanity does not perish, Newton will always be remembered. To pursue eternal life, adhering to truth is the simplest way to achieve it, because you are an intelligent agent operating according to the correct code, and the programmer only retains intelligent agents that operate correctly.