The truth is what it ought to be

I'm a big fan of Phantom of the Opera, and I was just thinking about one of my favorite quotes from the music of the play, which says "... that the truth is what it ought to be"

That's one of those phrases that's hard to get out of your mind, once it's planted. Reminds of a philosophy professor telling the freshman class that they will not be able to unlearn what they are about to learn, so tread carefully.

Truth is the key and most interesting word of the phrase, of course.

All my life, I've searched for truth. Sometimes at great expense, and sometimes it was perhaps just ordinary curiosity about things.

What's happened, to my astonishment, is that the longer I live, the more I see the gulf between the truth as I've learned it, and the world around me. Looks to me like most people are actually programmed. Maybe not as far gone as the Manchurian Candidate, but when I argue with someone over some fact and I know he's quoting Fox News (and that's just one, ask Phil Donohue about that), and he really believes those lies and distortions, and what that person is close to me for some reason, it really hurts.

Well - so, you know what I do out of that frustration? I write. Mostly on paper for future reference, and I suppose blog entries. I've been in forums, with fellow employees in the corporate world, and software developers in the consulting world, and I've learned from these experiences, which I'll also write about one day.


Bill