Whether how we are interpreting the world around us is valid or not, is a question that many more people should have been asking themselves throughout the ages. The validity of our interpretations is the very basis of everything we think we know about the world, and for it not to have been at the forefront of more peoples minds in the history of the world is a mystery that no one will ever come up with a suitable answer for. Where the question of whether or not bias and even consensus cloud the search for true validity need be called into question simultaneously if any determination is to be made. In reality, this is the one quandary that impacts every single facet of existence for every single thing that exists… or that we perceive as existing.
Interpretation; how one perceives what one is presented. A simple definition for a very complex, and multi-faceted term, it doesn’t quite convey the full complexity of the matter, but it does, however, begin to put the word into a small easily graspable conceptual framework. The act of interpreting information happens with everything one comes in contact with, a conscious mind uses it’s senses to interpret everything around itself as best as it can, as close to the truth as it can. Senses can be fooled, and any interpretation of something can quite possibly be invalid, and not the real truth of the matter. Interpretation, in reality is how someone perceives the world around them and any information presented to them, be it physical information such as what is physically going on around them, or conceptually as can be entered into ones consciousness for interpretation through mainly the use of language. Conceptual interpretation is completely and utterly different in it’s intricacies, in the place of possible failure of ones senses to retrieve data reliably, instead the fault of incorrect interpretation falls solely on he thought process’ behind the interpreting of the pure information, and also the prior interpretation of that data from whatever source it was retrieved from. With all of that in mind, interpretation is simply how one perceives what one is presented.
If there is one thing in this world that has a very high likelihood to stay the same no matter what else happens (as long as free conscious thought is still in existence, that is) it would be he existence of a differing opinion from that of the more widely accepted consensus on just about every intellectual debate that might come up. This may be caused by bias either on the side opposed to the consensus, or bias on the side of the consensus. In truth, bias is somewhat unavoidable, it being present in the interpretation part of information gathering and digesting. Bias however does not automatically mean that ones ideas hold less validity then those of one who has magically eliminated bias from themselves somehow, it just means that the biased one is less open to the chance that there perception might in fact be invalid. Consensus brings with it the false security that since it is accepted by the majority, it has a higher chance of being valid, this is mentality is not valid. Bias does not ensure lack of validity, and Consensus does not ensure validity, in short.
A valid interpretation is one that indeed is the truth to what is being presented; as opposed to an invalid interpretation which is not the truth of the matter, it is not what is actually happening, there is no clearer distinction than that. How to actually determine whether or not an interpretation is valid is merely a system of guesswork. It is literally an impossibility to prove beyond a doubt. Proof is subjective; people see what they want to see. The validity of a claim can always be called into question no matter what is used to “support” it. Overall, there is no way to truly know beyond a doubt that one is believing in something valid, or invalid; the only thing anyone can do, is discover what makes the most sense in their head, what feels right and hope beyond hope that even if you are wrong, which you very well could be, that the consequences for such a mistake are not very grave.
Guesswork and hope, the consensus would be that that claim is invalid; however, without realizing it, every single consciously thinking being uses it. Take, for instance, religions, from Christianity, to Judaism, to Buddhism, to Hinduism, to Islam a word is quite often associated with such belief systems; faith. Faith being quite close to hope, and not so very far away from guesswork as most would think, gives a bit of credit to the belief that the only way of interpreting is through said guesswork and hope. Religions don’t generally rely on systems of information gathering and deductive reasoning in order to try and make people believe in them, instead, generally one is to put faith without the need for outright physical “proof” that the word of the religion is indeed valid. Usually a religion is a belief system that gives simply states that the word of a single person, or prophet, or being of any kind is more valid then that of any other means of interpretation. In essence religions of any kind are a walking reminder that there is no set way to interpret the world around us, as our very scientific, physical “evidence craving society would have us believe. No one will ever be able to truly decipher beyond a doubt what claims are truly valid, in the end interpretation is just a large system of guess and hope.
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