[Nat]

I'm tutoring a very advanced English language learner who is a scientist. She aced out of the GED prep manual for English, so we are working mostly on increasing her vocabulary, tweaking her grammar and punctuation, increasing her listening/word-recognition abilities (she says she often misses the meaning behind stories and jokes because she misses a few critical words). Anyway, I'm having her listen to Ted talks and write down the parts she doesn't understand. The last one she chose was a talk by Isabel Allende who started out her speech with a question: what is truer than truth? Her answer was "the story."

My tutee did not understand how this question made any logical sense. In fact, over and over again, she has known the literal meaning of the word, but not the figurative ways in which the same word can be used. I don't know if this has more to do with her scientific brain or if her 1st language (Farsi) is more distinct in the words used to express literal vs figurative stuff. So I am constantly challenged to try to explain stuff that I haven't ever thought twice about - to a person far more intelligent than I am. It's an enjoyable challenge.

Anyway, in trying to explain Allende's question, this was pretty much the answer I gave her:

In the science world, truth is based on facts. So in your work-life I imagine most people will speak about truth meaning factual, actual truth.

But in English, there is another idea of truth that's not necessarily related to facts. So especially when you are listening to non-sciency people, you may hear "truth" used more to mean something personal or something from your heart or an abstract idea. It might be a religious idea or it may be related to the idea that there is a truth at a deeper level than facts can reveal.

But I didn't get into the, "this is my truth," conversation. I wish I'd thought of it. I don't have trouble with most, "this is my truth," statements and I have probably used the phrase a few times myself. My understanding of, "this is my truth," is that it's an attempt to acknowledge that we have each had our own life experiences which have shaped for each of us how we view and interact with the world. I think it's a statement that tries to set a tone which doesn't impose one's own thoughts, beliefs, filters, lens, what-have-you on others - and in that way I see it as a respectful and humble way to begin to express something possibly unpopular. But I have also seen it used as a defensive way to plug one's own ears in the face of challenge, as a way to deny or escape accusation of prejudice or ignorance.

When it comes to evidence, science, math - I don't believe in personal "truth." When it comes to defense against actual knowledge, defense against learning, I don't believe in personal "truth." But in matters of personal experience, in the realms of the heart and of the spirit, I believe very much in personal truth and I think there's enough room in the world for anybody to acknowledge having one.

The other day, I mentioned aquatic ape theory to AJ and she said there were a lot of holes in it. I wouldn't say "aquatic ape theory is my personal truth." it's just a theory that catches my fancy. I'm neither a scientist nor a mathematician, so I live more in the world of figurative individual truth than I do in the world of factual truth.

I'm not down with that triple helix ish though. My personal truth is that she needs to be held down and corrected.