Have you ever been asked a question that you had a hard time answering? Not because you were trying to deceive, but because you were trying to be honest. The truth is that the truth isn't relative, but it
is conditional. Case in point...
When people ask me where I'm from, I have a difficult time ascertaining if they mean where I was born, where I spent most of my childhood or where I just moved from. For you, this might be just a case of semantics, but for me, it provides a completely different answer. I was born in Colorado, but only lived there for two weeks. While I am currently living in Indiana, I just moved here from Arizona. However, when I say that, people assume I had lived in Arizona all my previous life so I end up having to tell them that I only lived there for 5.5 yrs. That begs the question, where did I move to Arizona
from. And the answer to that is California--so they assume I grew up in California, but I actually grew up mostly in NY. So they assume that means that I moved to California from NY, but that's not true either. I moved to California from Virginia. So then they assume that they now know everywhere I've lived, but I also lived in Florida for a few years after my family left Colorado. For those of you who are now dizzy, that translates to Colorado, Florida, NY, Virginia, California, Arizona and Indiana.
So you see how truth can be conditional. It depends upon the meaning and context behind the question. For another example, I point you in the direction of your driver's license.
Indiana was the first state to voluntarily comply with the new facial recognition software. We were required to take off our glasses and NOT smile into
the camera (if you could even find it after taking off your glasses--a big assumption if you happen to be legally blind without them!). Now, I will stipulate that saying you weigh 100lbs when you are really 145 is not being truthful, but what about your hair color? I put down brown. That is my natural hair color...or is it? Truth be told, if my hair was left to its own devices, it would be almost entirely gray. Or should I put down red? Truthfully, I say to you that until my dying day, I'll be coloring my hair red. Purely as an aside, my face (you know, for that facial recognition part) doesn't ever look like that! They told me to take off my glasses and look at the camera. What camera? Without my glasses I opened my eye wide and then squinted to try to FIND the camera and that is why I have that deer in the headlights look. I don't think a criminal would have that look. She'd probably be wearing her glasses!
So, while we are still on the subject of recognition software, how truthful is it to trust a driver's license which shows that I'm a brown haired woman with bug eyes who doesn't wear glasses? As a matter of fact, if you ever find a brown haired woman fitting my description with bug eyes and not wearing glasses, call the police! It means I've been abducted by someone who has (done the unthinkable and) prevented me from dying my hair long enough to have had the color fade...oh and has stolen my glasses!!
Is it just me or do any of you find the truth to be conditional? Share your story below. Truth is, I'd love to hear it. :D
