Circles of Truth

In the book The Road to Wisdom, Francis Collins provides a visual image for truth.  He says:

"Let's consider a set of concentric circles. In the center are truth claims that are universal and inescapable. In the outermost circle are claims where no evidence exits to favor acceptance or rejection, so these are essentially just subjective opinions. And then there are the levels in between."

The circles are from the innermost outward:

• Zone of Necessary Truth - items that just have to be the way they are.  For example, 2+2=4.
• Firmly established facts - "These are conclusions that are overwhelmingly supported by evidence, but discerning them has required human observation."  For example, the earth is round.
• Zone of Uncertainty - "Claims that are potentially true but whose supporting evidence is currently insufficient to move them into the circle of firmly established facts." For example, life on other planets
• Zone of Subjective Opinion - For example, dogs make better pets than cats.

As we traveled through our last election cycle (and the two before it), I found there were things I considered to be firmly established facts, that other people didn't. And I would encounter what some people called firmly established facts that for me, were not truth at all.  I think this is part of what divides us - we can't even agree on what is true and what is not true - even though some of these categories are objective.

Later in the chapter, he talks about commonalities that we an all agree on and that can be used to bring us back together.  Think of these as pillars that represent the values we all probably share: faith, family, freedom, truth, beauty, love, goodness.  He sees this as good news.  Truthfully (haha), I worry that we don't all share these values. We say we do, but we argue about them so much, and what they mean, that I'm not sure they can be used to bring us together.