A pretty common thought that I see in the media is the idea that “Ignorance is bliss.” This leads me to believe that there is at least some credence to this idea in many people’s minds. Another idea that a lot of people hold to is the “white lie,” telling a falsehood or avoiding a truth in order to keep from hurting someone’s feelings. Yet another idea, and perhaps the most popular one of the three, is that it is good to believe in some things even without evidence. This is called “faith,” and is widely seen as a pretty good thing, but oddly only in the field of religion. All three of these ideas run counter to the value of truth. I believe that to compromise truth will always make you less happy in the long run, so truth is a moral value.
The Truth Will Set You Free
The most accurate belief will always be the one that will give you the most personal power and freedom. For example, if I desire to send a man to the moon, a belief that objects fall up is going to keep me from achieving that goal until I change the belief. Also, if I believe the moon is an illusion, then I will never even try to send someone there. In both cases an inaccurate belief is keeping me from reaching the moon. The most empowering beliefs are those which don’t tell us we can’t do something we actually can, but also don’t tell us we can do something we actually can’t.
Inaccurate beliefs can also be disempowering even if they don’t directly relate to my goals. If I believe that exercise provides me with no health benefits, then I am unlikely to visit the gym, and probably doomed to a life of poor health until I can change that belief. Similarly, if I believe that meat is unhealthy, when it is in fact necessary for good health, then I am doomed to mediocre health. In both of these cases I probably won’t have the same energy levels as I would if I didn’t have the harmful beliefs, and therefore won’t be able to do as many things as I’d like. I become a slave to my suboptimal health. And if I am wrong in believing that God is keeping tabs on my actions, I am submitting myself to constant unneeded fear of judgment, which can be quite draining. On the other hand, if it is true that God is judging me, then by believing I am giving up current freedom for the ability to live forever, which is more freedom than I can even imagine.
Ignorance Ain’t Bliss
Since accurate, or true, beliefs will always make you freer that inaccurate ones, aligning your life with truth will increase your freedom. Since freedom is a moral value, as I argued in this post, truth must also be a moral value, meaning that to act in accordance with it will make me happier.
While it is true that some untrue beliefs may be more pleasant than the truth, in the long run we will be better off accepting the truth. Imagine the myth of Santa Claus, perhaps as a child you were told that Santa Claus brought you gifts on Christmas. By now you’ve realized that this isn’t true, and it was actually your parent’s bringing the gifts. It probably made you temporarily happier to believe in Santa, but do you remember the moment you found out it was false? Do you remember the feelings of hurt and betrayal? That could have all been avoided if you’d been told the truth from the beginning. It isn’t like you would have enjoyed the gifts any less anyways, plus you’d be able to thank the person that actually gave them to you.
Don’t tell Lies, Even “white” Ones
When We don’t tell someone the truth, we are denying them evidence that could end up making them more free. This will end up making them less happy. We should care about this because we humans are social animals. We feel empathy to those around us, and their moods tend to affect us.
Faith
According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” To have faith in a belief is to believe it without any evidence. This is fundamentally opposed to the idea of truth. This isn’t to say that the thing you have faith in is automatically false, it’s just that you have no way of knowing if it is false or not. We would never say “I just have faith that when I hit the brake the car will stop.” We believe this because that is what has happened countless times before. Most people wouldn’t say faith is a good thing to use on day to day beliefs like whether it’s a good idea to show up for work, to eat, or to change the oil in their cars, but when it comes to their most important and universal beliefs, faith is transformed into a virtue in people’s minds. Back your beliefs up with the evidence.