Truth, the Ultimate Investment

Truth could be the ultimate answer to practically every problem facing everyone.

We learn, through life experiences, that we can’t simply take what people say as gospel truth – most people lie some, and some people lie a lot.

But, what if there was a way to identify, with 100% (or even 99.99%) accuracy, a statement to be true or false. Think about the ramifications of real truth on the way we live.

Truth could solve problems ranging from knowing whether the Prius will really get 50 MPG to deciding who should be the next President.

Did your spouse cheat on you? Was your employee really sick last Friday? Is the check really in the mail? Did you cheat on your taxes? [OK, maybe we need a tax-cheating loophole, but you get the point.]

A jury’s responsibility would shift from determining guilt to assessing a sentence – based on the truth of the case. Most attorneys would be reeducated until they could master “want fries with that?” Institutional racism could no longer exist, nor could the anti-white activities of Revs. Jackson, Sharpton, or Wright.

We could begin to trust our associates, our friends, our spouses, our churches, and our elected representatives. Our spy networks would no longer be necessary and if we could accurately differentiate between our real friends and those who mean us harm, we could better defend ourselves, both individually and as a country. No President could “lie us into a war” or play “hide the cigar” in the oval office.

It would no longer be possible for fraud to exist, identity theft would be gone, only guilty people would be sent to prison – and we’d never execute an innocent person. Never again could someone be cheated or swindled in any kind of transaction.

Private sector companies would be competing based on merit and service rather than marketing hype and half-truths. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if we could believe commercials?

Social Security and Medicare could be dealt with without partisan politics. Eliminating fraud in these programs would likely mean that the benefits could be increased and the programs could be put on fiscally firm ground.

The IRS would be reduced to perhaps a few thousand “truth evaluators” and pork-barrel patronage couldn’t be hidden away in a “Food for the Hungry Children” bill. This alone would save billions that could be spent in more beneficial ways. Let’s put the environmentalists and oil company reps in a small room and find out how much truth there is in each position – there’s probably some truth and some lie in each position.

We could accurately evaluate our elected representatives (this probably would mean that current incumbents would be forced to find “gainful” employment) like replacing the illegals working the crops. Many (including Congress) would fight tooth and nail to bury such a device. But if someone were seen as opposing the truth, isn’t that an indictment on its face? Most of our “public servants” would quietly retire and not seek reelection if a “truth assessment” became part of qualifying for public office.

Education would be vastly improved with no political shadings – just the facts. There would be no more revisionist history – what happened – happened. Quality educators could be identified and paid accordingly, others could find work as Wal-Mart greeters.

Imagine how free and happy we could be if we could drop the defensive shield we’re forced to maintain and be truly trusting of our fellow humans.

All we need is a way to parse statements through a truth filter.

Nobody said it would be easy but the development of a truth detector would truly be a world-changing event. With so many “wrongs” that could be “righted” by such a device, why aren’t we funding scientific research to the level of a space program? The ROI would be mind-boggling in the truest context of the term.