Is the pursuit of “truth” still worth it?
If there were ever a case for the ones who strayed away from the path of the pursuit of truth and dedicated life to exploring through experiences, their time to speak would be now. The core questions this writing asks are of philosophical and natural essence. Has our world been built by the diversity of thought and the difference of opinion? Has humanity's history been a battleground of ideas, and, more importantly, have the best ones won? After all, how can one explain that when faced with coming up with schools of thought or moral values, we seem to follow the same fundamentals and name the same four or five philosophers?
What if there's a side of the coin that holds against the trials of our experiences as a predecessor to judgment? A thought that almost always gets skipped, always remains covert, maybe intentionally, maybe not. This writing of mine tries to explore this very thought.
The more one reads contrarian thoughts, the wider the array of belief gets. That's what they say, right? "Open your mind, and you shall find." What if there's something to be learned not only from what we read, for those teachings can hold their own, but also from the process with which humankind learns, teaches, talks, and behaves?
Nietzsche defines truth as "a mobile army of metaphors, metonymies and anthropomorphisms"; in other words, a shambles of subjective ideas. What if I told you that to this day there are tribes on small islands that stand true to their habits of cannibalism, that partake in sacrificial ceremonies, speak in their own native tongue, and practice their own cultural remedies? How would you convince this tribe of "truth," or concepts of "right" or "wrong"? And more importantly, right to whom? Truth from whose perspective? On what grounds and implications? Now, we might all have the same idea against the actions of that tribe, but the point here is to explore the definition of "truth," of how things are and how they're set.
My argument is that the wheel that rolls and functions as our economic grease has been set; the ideas that are of the past, set by battles won, errors made, and trials tested, have defined the system in which we live. If you're in favor of this system, you function in it and seek to improve it; if you're not, you may explore other ideas. The point of this writing hinges on something deeper; it asks what you would think tomorrow if you read this again. What would you do then?
The ironic part is that to find the intricacies of "truth" you must seek it first. As philosophers have and do, only to discover that wisdom serves not the definition of "truth" but the building of it. That's right! The purpose so many people have attached to their lives is nothing more than a misconception. The life that remotely resembles the one in your mind is built by you and others like and unlike you; the truth means nothing when sought but everything when built.
Empires rise and fall on promises of truth; they achieve greatness and suffer under the ups and downs of history, which are all but attempts at building a version of reality, a version of truth that served them.
If one's moral compass is sound, then it would be easy to say, "Just go and build your vision." But concepts like justice, fairness, and morality, as Plato and others explored them, didn't just brew intent in good men but in dictators and savages too. History is shaped by the ones who survived, good and bad, just and unjust. This again serves as a great reminder: if it isn't grey, if it isn't difficult to digest, if it's not bittersweet, then it is very likely that you missed some aspect of it.
But if we stop pursuing truth and start building it, do we lose the ability to critique the "bad builders"? If a society builds a "truth" based on oppression, and that structure is stable and functions, does that make it "true"? Or is there still a "Platonic" standard of Justice that exists outside of what we build, which allows us to say, "That building is flawed"?
That is precisely why we need to constantly gauge our stance; overpowering ideas usually win, as they have historically, irrespective of right or wrongness. The constant reminder that we live in a world made by us, and against us, cannot be overstated. Therefore, philosophy, religion, and the seeking of knowledge remain necessary, not to find the Truth, but to measure what we have created. The passive pursuit of 'truth' remains a hoax; the active building of it, however, is our only reality.
— Arya Javadi, February 3, 2026