Truth is the characteristic of being in agreement with fact or reality, it represents reality or otherwise corresponds to it, such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences. It has been the object of study and debate for philosophers for thousands of years.
According to Plato the truth is a divine virtue. Insisting on pursuing the absolute truth was the philosophy that lead the ancient Greeks to develop advanced mathematical ideas that have defined the way science is being carried out today: using logic, axioms, proofs and theorems. Beauty in simplicity, beauty in truth. There is still evidence of their love for the truth not only in the mathematics they developed, mostly in the form of geometry, but also in its applications in art and architecture, some of them like the Parthenon in Athens still causing global admiration and awe.
The need to be honest
But the truth is valuable and elegant not only for the ancient Greeks, but also for many modern day Aspies. People with high functioning autism are often very direct if not entirely dedicated to the search and delivery of the truth. They are eager to learn new things that are related to actual facts including scientific principles, but also historical and political events. It seems as if their aim is to discover a universal truth and they often spend a lot of time researching less known facts to try and achieve a comprehensive view of the topic of their interest. They often choose to share their findings with others and when they do it with neurotypical people they usually cause them an awful lot of boredom. For the Aspies, though, sharing such revelations has a great importance and priority and they often get disappointed when the realise others don’t share their interests. They are actually shocked!
But in their interpersonal relationships also, individuals with ASD tend to be honest and straightforward to the point that they can be often misunderstood for being too direct or blunt. Who hasn’t told their friend after being asked for their opinion that their dress is not flattering their big bottom or that they liked their hair as it was before they died it blue? An explanation to this could be that with our brains wired differently, our thoughts mostly follow logical patterns which in combination with our eye for detail, gives most of us the ability to spot falsehoods in statements and common beliefs that for some reason we also have the urge to expose.
But why?
But why is the truth so important for us? Why do we feel everyone has to be honest? People with ASD have a strong desire to follow rules and ‘always be honest’ is a kind of rule or a value if you prefer. Besides making sense to their logical minds, adhering to rules and values brings a bit of order to the chaos of life and also keeps the social anxiety under control. Another answer is that we don’t posses the ‘social’ skills of diplomacy AKA to know when and how much to lie, sorry.. I meant hide the truth (of course!). Is that a real defect though? Only because we are the minority I would think and that takes us back to the classic question: ‘what is normal?’ which will definitely not be answered within these lines and yes, this is the blunt truth.
Unfortunately, it seems that truth can’t be used to unite groups of people when the majority have this inherent need to agree with each other so that they won’t be left out of the herd. And I guess this was once extremely important since I can imagine the survival of the group/species could at times rely on a more uniform and coordinated behaviour. Is it still that important though to let it be the principle behind excluding autistic individuals from groups because they don’t adhere to mainstream beliefs and opinions? In the years of information, is it still rational to be united under false ideas and beliefs just to feel that we belong somewhere?
Think of the positives…
I think the answer is no. People might see the attachment to honesty and the lack of talent in telling white lies as social defects, however, without the passion for truth there would be less scientific discoveries, less inventions and technological advances around the globe. I won’t go as far as to agree with the opinion that without ASD we would still be sitting outside the cave around the fire making chit-chat, but… I will to make a point. Besides the rare gifted minds some people with ASD may have, there are all the rest of us, everyday people with a strong sense of right and wrong, determination and logical thinking. With truth being our guiding principle we contribute to making sure there is scientific progress, transparency in big organisations, we make irreplaceable and reliable employees and we can protect our place of work but also valuable institutions involving Education, Justice and Healthcare with our accountability and good governance.
The truth is there, whether we like it or not. It’s absolute and non negotiable. And it can be hard and unpleasant and difficult to embrace. But it is also refreshing and liberating. It helps put things in perspective, realise how small we are and I don’t find this sad at all. It is rather freeing. It makes me want to look at the stars, eager to learn more about what is out there, beyond our microcosmos. For me the truth is like taking a sip of a good old red wine: it leaves you with a sweet and savoury full taste in your mouth that you enjoy even after you swallow it while smacking your tongue against your palate. Yes, it can be a little bit bitter but it also has a taste of concentrated happiness and sunshine. And this taste sometimes gets surprisingly better with the uncomfortable reaction of the recipient of the truth, giving it the necessary acidity and tanginess that is expected when tasting an good old wine.