In a court of law, we are expected to swear on the Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But I wonder if the word truth means the same thing to any two people, and if there is a universal concept of the truth. Why is truth so highly valued by the courts of the land that perjury is considered a serious offense?
If the opposite of truth is error, then any computer user will testify how annoying program errors are. We would prefer the software to have integrity, and for the developer to abide by the rules of the programming language. Is truth then a set of rules that cause havoc if broken? Perhaps. Can I have one set of rules and you have another? There are some who would like to think so when applied to behavior. Do marriages tend to unravel when each spouse is operating from opposing ground rules, based on different family backgrounds and beliefs?