BTT #37: Is Epistemology a Whore or a Mother or Both?

On By Lona GyntIn Poetry
Snapshot_003
This is me, discovering an additional way to enjoy books.

 

Is Epistemology a Whore or a Mother or Both?

Truth, it seems, is rarely lacking leaven.

A wise woman said it hurts only if you believe it.

The most tenacious con is self-deception.

Truth may have its way, but perhaps is merely written by the victors.

Whether it is a sword or salve depends upon the heart that wields it.

I feel it best as arms wrapped round sinking shoulders

Encircle Seventh Hell and Heaven.

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All rights reserved by Lona Gynt, July 2018.

This is posted in response to Frank’s dVerse prompt for a septet in honor of dVerse’s seventh anniversary.  The link to the dVerse prompt is here:

Septets for dVerse’s Seventh Anniversary

I also owe the fact that I have played the dVerse trail three times in a week to the questions that were pricked by Maggie C’s lovely septet.  She is the wise woman mentioned above and I am referencing her line: “Truth hurts sometimes, but only if you believe it” in my poem above.  My poem is, in part, a response to that tender wise and wickedly recursive insight.  Here is the link to her poem “Six truths and a lie (or vice-versa)”

Six truths and a lie (or vice versa)

CICA strings_001
This picture is from a visit to Cica Ghost’s Second Life Exhibit “Strings.”  Oh how I wish this place were still there.  The picture at the top of the post is from some lovely Second Life Exhibit that I have forgotten the name to and which has also sadly long since disappeared.

 

 

 

28 thoughts on “BTT #37: Is Epistemology a Whore or a Mother or Both?”

    1. yes, that is a struggle that we all have. Do we let our perception of truth, or even the arguments regarding what truth is and how we find it be appropriated to get ahead of the pack or support a specific agenda? Or do we use it as a comfort and life giving force, thus the juxtaposed question in the title. Even if we are being a sincere seeker of truth, sometimes we let the drive to try to make everything “make sense” to the extent that an outlook or ideology can overpower the larger truth of who we are to each other. This can devolve further to the political, social, religious tribalisms that are such a profoundly divisive stage right now. In personal religious terms, I don’t think God is very interested in having us figure out a cohesive framework that “makes sense” of this world, but rather to have us learn to care and love for each other. God can figure out the sense part. So keep on struggling with it, I will too, on the way we might just make the world slightly better. Thanks for you comment, which was brief, and evoked a wordy response from me (poems are a way for me to say succinctly what I am otherwise way to verbose in articulating). You got to the heart of much of what this poem was about.

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  6. How peculiar it is to know while questioning the knowledge! The fourth and fifth lines work excellently as American sentences. There is a certain tenacity along with a kind of an absurdist pathos (if it may be called so) in your words. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
    -HA

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  7. “Truth may have its way, but perhaps is merely written by the victors.”
    This line really takes time to digest. I think this is why we are continually “uncovering” history / herstory. The black women who were “computers” in the early days of NASA come to mind.
    In May we visited both the American Indian Museum and the African American Museum in Washington DC. We’ve also been to the Holocaust Museum. It seems to me….that places like this, give voice to and artifacts to show, a story of truths that many still do not realize. I think of plays and music doing this as well. Ah….you’ve got me thinking here!

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    1. Those examples show brutality about ourselves that is hard to swallow, but also strength, kindness, and bravery. Perhaps when we can see both sides truth can truly marry reconciliation? And it may be most important on the small personal domestic level, how we treat each other at home shapes our values for larger global issues. Anne Frank’s family was sheltered in a home, allowing her words to eventually usher a type of victory over her murderers. Spouses who treat each other well, even when they don’t agree, show their fledglings how it’s done. You are perceptive. Thank you.

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  8. Yes, those particular lines are very relevant to our situation in America. There is plenty of absurd pathos in the world in general, but it is still a beautiful place and I derive tremendous hope from the kindness that is there. Thank you for your comment, both kind and thoughtful. 💜

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  9. A little self-deception is what we need sometimes, to feel ok and get through our day with our confidence intact. But too much self-deception and one may not be living in reality! I love your image of Truth as arms wrapped around “sinking shoulders.” This feeling of safety and relief is a physical comfort to which we can (hopefully) all relate.

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  11. Truth may have its way, but perhaps is merely written by the victors.- This line explain best how humanity is led towards the path I was talking about in my poem. Also this “The most tenacious con is self-deception”

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    1. That, my friend may be difficult to ever know, I think it might be the beginning, as long as you don’t let that insight devolve to paralytic self-doubt. I don’t know, it is a fine line along a brush border. I am glad for your reading and your question.

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  13. Pingback: “The Most Tenacious Con is Self-Deception” – Café Philos: an internet café

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