Do you believe the sun won’t rise tomorrow or that the north pole will be 110 degrees on Christmas Eve? Why not? Because of what we call facts that are known to all of us. Can we live successful lives if we ignore the facts which can lead us to the truth? Indeed, no. Because facts and truth are inseparable. It’s like a marriage of facts and truth.
Straight Thinking Summarized Is the Marriage of Facts and Truth
Previously, we arrived in an article at a summary statement of straight thinking: namely, truthfulness. Importantly, the search for a truthful understanding of the facts and the development of healthy values lead to a life of happiness and contentment. Therefore, it should be a passionate drive in all of us. So, let’s take a good look at a list of straight thinking’s requirements to aid us in finding the truth. I think you will find truth undergirds all the elements of straight thinking.
Straight Thinking Must Think Factually
Above all, it is important to remember that facts are the building blocks of truth. Those facts can be objective or subjective, outside or inside ourselves. However, ignoring the facts because they contradict our cherished ideologies is the beginning of crooked thinking.
I can’t help being astounded at the thoughtless, empty-headed statement of Nietzsche (the German theologian turned philosopher and a bitter, angry opponent of Christianity). He cried, “No facts, only interpretations.” Amazingly, he became famous for such an inane statement. Can you imagine that? Thoughtless statements can make some people famous! It doesn’t matter how he meant it, because his statement’s face value is of a bungling, unreal, mental blindness and a disregard for reality and truth that is all around us. We would all become extremely nervous if the facts indicated the sun would not rise tomorrow. We find peace of mind only in our respect for facts and reality.
Today’s Common Beliefs Echo Nietzsche
It is commonly believed by those who are changing our culture that there are no real facts, only interpretations — our own opinions about the facts. This is thoughtless! It ignores the marriage of facts and truth. With this in mind, here are a few sources of facts.
- First, the facts (not the theories of science) are certainties.
- Second, things that can be verified (such as that the world is round and other countless realities we experience in this world we live in daily) are facts.
Accuracy Requires Facts and Truth
Our mothers try to teach us the needed facts of hygiene, etc. What is more, we cannot think about anything with accuracy if we don’t have some facts with which to begin.
And have you thought of this? Thinking controls our emotions! Consequently, when our emotions have gone manic or are unrestrained by reality, we become victims of our rejection of facts and truth.
C. S. Lewis, the famous Oxford Don and outstanding author once remarked in his search for truth that Christianity was simply another myth. He was corrected by Tolstein’s quick response that, unlike a myth, Christian beliefs are rooted in historical facts. Yes, facts matter. What is more, straight thinking, which is the path to managing a sane and self-controlled life, starts with the facts. For this reason, we can’t afford to deny the facts and truth without becoming a mental train wreck.
THIS WEEK’S FOCUS
This week help your friends, children, and those you love to live by the facts and not the crooked imaginings of philosophers like Nietzsche. A crazy culture that flies in the face of facts is seeking to take over our thinking. So, resist it in the name of truth. Don’t let it distort your mind.
THE WAY TO HAVE A HEALTHY MENTAL SYSTEM
Weekly Help for Your Mind/Brain
This weekly addition to my articles provides practical guidance for the application of commonly known facts about brain health.
The brain is approximately 75-80% fat — cholesterol, actually. It doesn’t take much thinking to see that we must feed it the right fats as part of our care program.
Healthy Fats
With that thought, we must remember that healthy fats* include adequate omega 3 oils, such as those found in deep-sea fish (like salmon) and other plentiful omega 3 sources such as coconut oil (also in the form of MCT oil), olive oil, avocado oil, healthy grass-fed animal fats from animals not given antibiotics or fattened on grains. All other fats create problems for the brain and the brain must fight the damage they do — often, only to slowly lose the fight over time.
Healthy Fat Sources
Many of the most common fats on the shelves of supermarkets are peddled by industry giants who disclaim that they cause any damage to the brain. Unfortunately, they place their own interests before yours and have been shown to be producing oils that twenty years ago were still considered safe — but no longer! When it comes to diet, reliable research has changed our knowledge of fats and what they do to the body. Fats are essential, but only when we choose the healthy ones, some of which I have listed above.
Therefore, some diet adjustments may be needed and, if so, consider:
- It is your responsibility to take care of your brain, not the advertising agency.
- Beware! Science has not always been right, especially science driven by big money.
- Of primary importance is the fact that we want to feed a brain what it needs to remain vibrant and healthy to our very last day.
- Again, no one else is responsible for your brain’s health. (I keep reminding myself of this).
Next: More diet awareness.
*The fats I have listed include those now recommended by research and sources not dependent on pharmaceutical and industrial monies that fuel their research. Books that will help you to learn about the right fats include, Wheat Belly Total Health by William Davis MD, and Grain Brain by David Perlmutter MD, among a slew of others.