I am a seeker. I have sought the truth through science, through faith, and through life experiences. My unstated goal in all of this is to find the TRUTH. Like everyone who is alive on this planet, I want to love and be loved. I also want to know my purpose and fulfill that purpose. I don’t think I’m the only one who wants to know the TRUTH.
There’s one problem. The TRUTH is elusive. In fact, learning the TRUTH is somewhat deceiving. Here are the places that I’ve sought out the truth:
Living life and experiencing myself and other people.
Exploring my faith.
Classroom education.
Mechanical Engineering
Business
Travel
Studying politics.
In all these places, I think I learn more. My mind is soaking up as much as it can. My left brain is criticizing the information that it sees. After critically thinking about this information, I arrive at a conclusion. I believe these conclusions to be valid because I feel I have done my due diligence. I then write an article, record a video, or make a post on social media expounding the truth I know. Why? Because others are uneducated and are making poor decisions because they don’t understand the truth.
The Left Brain
Scientists, engineers, and other left-brained people tend to live in solitude contemplating nature. They experiment, and test what they believe to be true. Scientists will write papers that will inform the public of some truth they’ve discovered. They will get agreeable peers to review and validate their work only to be challenged by skeptics who have done research that contradicts the scientists’ findings. A public debate will ensue, and the so-called truth will emerge from the loudest voices and the most puffed-up egos. Maybe this truth was fueled by aspirations of wealth by eager businesspeople. Maybe this truth is born of a political ideology. Maybe this truth is born of religious fervor. Or Maybe this truth will be replaced by another truth at a future time.
The Right Brain
There are those who choose to understand life and its truth through intuition and feeling. Lest you be dissuaded, these skills are no less valid than the left-brainers using their logic and science. The end, however, is the same. Intuition born of life experiences, and a sense of how things are supposed to work is no more or less valid than the scientists who can see a tenth of the information they need to make a claim on the truth. The right-brainers have a handicap in that they cannot put down on paper what they believe to be true. However, they are often excellent at convincing others that their intuitive truth is worth following.
The Debate
Whether left or right, we tend to debate opposite ideals hoping that argument will be the way we test the truth. This method often ends up polarizing two groups of people. Debate rarely solves problems; and often creates obfuscation instead of illumination to any truth that may have been present. The two sides dig deeper into their version of the truth; and they resist any idea that their opposite may be correct.
The Discussion
The scientific method has created much of what we have today in our modern society. Electricity, plastics, cars, air travel, cell phones, metal alloys, abundant agriculture, and many more innovations that make our lives easier. However, the deeper truths, the past, and the future are difficult if not impossible to know. That doesn’t mean that we should stop pursuing these truths. However, it does mean that we will rarely know them.
It is in these elusive topics where we ought to pay closer attention to varying opinions, and different ideas of the truth.
There is a chapter in the Bible on love. Here is an excerpt (1Corinthians 13:2):
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
There is a deep meaning in this verse that I just recently understood in my search for knowledge. Loving discussion is a way to find truth that matters.
Let me explain.
There is a current scientific topic of Climate Change. Even mentioning those words will raise your blood pressure. If you lean politically right, you will consider Climate Change to be an oversold idea that is poorly thought out at best, and a hoax at worst. If you lean politically left, you will consider Climate Change to be an existential threat and an indicator of impending doom that should be the focus of every human being.
What if each side of this debate dropped their boxing gloves and valued the people on the other side of the debate? What if we discussed our differences on this topic to arrive at a pragmatic and well-reasoned solution that considered truths from both sides? What I’m asking is difficult and counterintuitive to both sides. However, it is quite necessary.
If we believe the wisdom contained in 1 Corinthians 13, we understand that our knowledge, no matter how much we believe in it, is nothing. It is nothing if it only results in polarization and division. It is everything if this knowledge results in united action and a united humanity.
Pretending to Know Results in Polarization
Until we unite, we are pretending to know. We exaggerate our ideas and demagogue the other side. We feel comfortable in our anger and become defensive at voices from the other side. The results to our society are devastating. Nasty arguments become the norm, and nothing gets accomplished in our halls of congress. We spend more money than we can afford because there is no ability to create priorities and pay for them responsibly. These kinds of logical negotiations can only happen in a country that loves and respects each other. Without this unity, we will fail. Sadly, failure seems to be preferrable to giving up on our egos. I hope this isn’t true.
Engineering Unity
While I’ve sought the truth my entire life, I am not omnipotent… not even close. I do believe that I have an idea to create a greater truth upon which to base our political decisions. I’ve published a book called Engineering Unity. This book respectfully outlines both sides of twelve controversial political topics. It also forms ideas to bring both sides together to start a loving discussion that will yield results instead of animosity. You can find Engineering Unity on Paperback, Kindle, or Audible on Amazon.
About the Author
Jeff Schuster is an accomplished businessman, engineer, and writer. Three of Jeff's books are attempts at helping people understand and solve political problems that are being made worse by political partisanship. His first book, Trial & Error, is a collection of 14 short stories. ReEngineering Education is a story of innovative education reform in the midst of political corruption. Engineering Unity is Jeff's most recent book published in August 2023 addressing political polarization on wedge issues that politicians use to divide us. You are welcome to join our private Facebook group called Reengineering Politics where we discuss politically polarizing topics in a civil manner.
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