The Meaning and Value of Absolute Truth

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:02]Hello folks.

[00:00:03]Today I want to talk to you about the value of absolute truth.

[00:00:11]If you were to go to a university professor, a philosophy professor, and ask him, "What is absolute truth?" He would respond along the lines of um you know, by giving an example uh that 2 + 2 = 4 and it is true uh everywhere. It is true here in America, it is true in Russia, it is true in Timbuktu, it is true in Antarctica, it is also true in outer space.

[00:00:44]And it is true for everybody.

[00:00:46]You know, and not only that, it is unchanging.

[00:00:50]Therefore, um he would say it is absolutely true. He would give that as an as a simple example.

[00:01:00]Now, uh however, this kind of uh a- ascribing truth values to specific statements, propositions, or sentences has serious limitations.

[00:01:18]It is of very little use when it comes to the big questions in life.

[00:01:25]Like 2 + 2 = 4 is going to be the truth of the absolute truth of 2 + 2 = 4 is going to be of no value to solve the Arab-Israeli problem in Palestine. It is not going to help uh solve the Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan. Both countries have got nuclear weapons.

[00:01:50]Uh and uh and they have not been able to solve the problem, and this sort of truth is not going to help you solve the problem.

[00:02:01]Um let's say uh you are in the United States, and today this year is um the 250th year of the uh Declaration of Independence in America.

[00:02:15]And uh you know, roughly um 250 years ago or a little uh less than that, the Constitution of the United States was adopted, you know, less than a little less than to maybe uh 230, you know, um uh a couple of decades within a couple of decades, the US Constitution was adopted.

[00:02:37]>> [snorts] >> Uh and uh uh but will the Constitution of the United States, constitutional government of the United States, survive, let's say, 500 years from now?

[00:02:52]And will something as um uh uh inconsequential in that respect as 2 + 2 = 4 help you in any way?

[00:03:06]Um religious people believe that there is an afterlife, and in the Abrahamic tradition, they believe that uh and perhaps even in other traditions, uh people believe that uh you know, based on your deeds, you will either go to heaven or uh hell.

[00:03:26]And um y- and I, you know, at at the gates of heaven, uh you cannot use 2 + 2 = 4 as a passcode to get into heaven.

[00:03:39]So, uh on the big questions of life, uh here and now, uh problems, big problems that we face, uh in in the longevity and the survival of um of a nation and its continued greatness, uh cannot be preserved um uh by uh by this kind of ascribing uh uh truth values to statements, you know, and calling them absolute truth.

[00:04:11]You What we mean by absolute truth is something that is true and will ensure success in in these large questions uh of life um uh here in the future on this planet as well as in afterlife.

[00:04:36]That is what we refer to as absolute truth, you know, something, the one thing that will guarantee uh all the best cha- or will give you the best chance of success in any problem domain uh that is of significance and consequence to you, to human beings uh in life. That is what we mean by absolute truth.

[00:05:01]And that is what uh we should seek, and that is what has value.

[00:05:08]Having said that, uh let me finish my talk. Thank you very much.