Jim Kacian

Truth

178.0.

The only truth is now. I might say 180 (or, more likely, 175) as a more general reference, but almost never is it true. It’s a kind of artifact hovering around the truth, and since its exactitude is rarely important, we all agree to let it slide. But there’s a problem with this provisionality. 

There are those who would exploit this uncertainty, cynical minds who would argue that therefore there is no truth, or at least that it can never be known. Or worse, that only they can know the truth, and therefore should be heeded in all matters.

We can see what destruction this sort of belief can assemble. What could have the Japanese felt when their immortal and divine emperor announced he was a just a man and was surrendering the war? Perhaps a more important question: are the Japanese less likely to succumb to such a belief again, or more so?

Perhaps things would be easier if we were rational creatures, but we are only partially and intermittently rational. It is our lot. The truth may exist, but we are not equipped to know it.

178.1. Damn.

forever now...
the leaning tower
leaning

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About the Author

Jim Kacian is founder and president of The Haiku Foundation as well as chairman of its board; founder and owner of Red Moon Press; and editor in chief of Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (W. W. Norton, 2013).

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