To think 'my truth' or 'your truth' doesn't mean THE truth?

[FridayNightAtTheBronze]

I've seen this phrase used so much recently, and it really irritates me for some reason!

People saying 'This is my truth.'

Surely they just mean 'This is my side of the story'.

Or

'This is my version of events'.

AIBU to think that 'my truth' shouldn't be conflated with telling THE truth? And to be irrationally irritated when I hear it?!

@ContessaDiPulpo

I actually quite like 'my truth' because it tacitly acknowledges that it may not be 'the' truth and that recollections may differ.... however I do suspect a lot of people don't realise that they are basically saying that their story is unreliable from the outset

I agree.

It's my experience that people who think their truth is 'The Truth' or 'facts' are usually self righteous and privileged with zero empathy.

At least 'my truth' acknowledges that there may be a different perspective of the 'facts'

SkedaddIe

You're about to go down a very very deep philosophical hole with that type of thinking.

Yes, it's possibly a bit too much thinking for a Wednesday morning

It usually comes with a side serving of arrogance, self-centrednes and self pity. It should always be a three part sentence - This is my truth, your truth will be different, the objective truth is somewhere in the middle.

Someone, can't remember who, once said there are three versions of the truth - mine, yours and the actual truth based on facts not interpretation and which is usually somewhere between the two versions provided.

Everyone embellishes their side of the story to make themselves look like the aggrieved party or the better person.

I detest the phrase but it is arguably correct in that the person spouting it is implicitly stating that this is their perception of events from their personal point of view and should not be taken as gospel.

I nearly started a thread on this too.
There is such a thing as truth, as incontrovertible fact. People may not be very good at articulating it without putting their own slant on events, but that doesn't mean that 'truth' isn't real.
'My truth' just means 'my take on events' and shouldn't be given any more weight than any other opinion.

I translate it as 'yes, I'm an arsehole and no, I don't care.'

Telling MY TRUTH means saying whatever I think or feel is right

However telling the truth is stating what is factual correct

Apparently some people don't seem to know the difference nowadays

The silencing of the factual truth in favour of My Truth is scary. Cancel culture is appalling and should not be tolerated. People should be fighting for the right to free speech.

I didn't think anyone was mistaking "my truth" for "the truth". The phrase means exactly what it says, we can all only our truth, we're saying what we believe to be true.

I know a lot of people don't like it but I actually do. We all have a truth as we perceive it; we believe it is true, to us it is, we may well think we know it is true. But the qualifier of "my" or "your" or whatever possessive indicates that it is indeed just that: my truth, as I perceive and understand it to be. It's very honest, really.

So many situations don't have an objective, absolute truth that my, your, his or her truth is the nearest we can get to one.

If I stand at the front of my house and describe it, it will be very different from the description given by someone standing looking at the back of my house. Both descriptions could be true but different.
I think this happens frequently in accounts of events. People are viewing/ remembering/ describing accurately from where they stand and fail to recognise that someone else in a different position in the same event can experience something different but equally "true"

Yeah I hate it too, because it sets up the conversation in a way that you can't contest what the person says because it's "their truth".

Whereas, if they framed it (more honestly) as "their perspective" then that tacitly allows a conversation about whether what they're saying is an accurate interpretation of events and conversations about alternative perspectives.

I avoid people who talk about "their truth" like the plague - generally I've found these types of people less likely to take personal responsibility for their actions or accept any accountability. It's a way of bolstering their sense of correctness.

On a philosophical note, I'm very much more it realism (my research philosophy is critical realism). Not a fan of subjectivism or interpretivism personally, although I can see their merits from an academic perspective (just don't believe it translates well into the 'real world'!)

@Tinydinosaur

I didn't think anyone was mistaking "my truth" for "the truth". The phrase means exactly what it says, we can all only our truth, we're saying what we believe to be true.

This.

To me it's far less arrogant and annoying than someone saying "this is the truth" or even worse: "I'm just telling it how it is" (urgh the latter phrase makes me physically recoil). (not envy, clearly!)

Those sort of phrases suggest the person is completely closed to any other sort of perspective or interpretation.

This is my truth, to me, implies an understanding that it's just that person's perspective and experience and therefore they are open to hearing others.

"my version" will do.

"my truth" is just playing inane semantics - doesn't change the fact that's it's still just "your version". Without both sides of any story it just becomes meaningless.

I'm sure Saddam's truth was that he was a great man who didn't make any mistakes etc. There are some very disappointed and unrecognised geniuses out there too (Twitter disproportionately attracts them, if anyone wondering where all the missing geniuses went to).

It's all "their truth", guv 100% truth.

If anyone says they are speaking “my truth”, you can be 100% sure of one thing : they are lying, and they know they are lying. For example, Meghan Markle knew she was lying about ‘getting married’ three days before the ceremony.

It's clearly a way of trying to add moral weight to a viewpoint or an opinion. Some things are objectively true or correct whether people like it or not.

I’ve thought of ‘truth’ as a) something observed in the past b) a decision supported by the majority.

I think its first widespread use is as a line in the 1930s poem 'Desiderata'.

I also quite like a phrase by Brecht around the matter (it's easy to sling mud at it but one that comes back to me at random times, and leads me to wipe mud off occasionally):
"Whoever does not know the truth, is simply foolish. Whoever knows the truth, and calls it a lie though; he is a criminal."

@SnuggyBuggy

It's clearly a way of trying to add moral weight to a viewpoint or an opinion. Some things are objectively true or correct whether people like it or not.

Sometimes it's just how people express themselves from their own subjective perspective.

In a past job role I worked with victims of childhood abuse. They would often refer to wanting others to know "their truth".

I felt it was fair enough, given they'd never been believed before.

To me it's far less arrogant and annoying than someone saying "this is the truth" or even worse: "I'm just telling it how it is" (urgh the latter phrase makes me physically recoil).

But I’m not sure it’s used in place of “the truth”, it’s used in place of “my opinion” or “my experience” or “that’s honestly how I felt.”

I think it is more frequently used to elevate the status of personal opinion than it is to qualify it.

Yes yes yes
The earth is round. This is THE TRUTH
'my truth' is stupid. That is my opinion.

I have observed that it becomes part of discussions where there is a prevailing assumption that others' experiences must match our own, an inability to see things from outside our own lens. E.g. all over 50s can now get a vaccine,....but actually some may be having no luck with the booking system or can only get an appointment on a Sunday at midnight 30 miles away. Over 50s can book, we might be told, in increasingly high pitched voices. But some actually can't. Both things can be true at the same time. The actual truth is more complex. The booking system is open for over 50s but coverage might still be variable across the country. But people seem to want the soundbite these days... the McNugget of the story, with no context and nuance. So I think sometimes 'my truth' is used to say to people.... really the world isn't as simple and comfortable as your would like to imply with your soundbites.

I don't like the phrase much, but I do feel it's important to acknowledge that very few matters are as simple as some would like us to believe.

"My truth" seems to mean "my opinion (but I expect you to treat that opinion as fact and will get irate if you disagree)".

There is only one truth. People might not always be able to agree on what it is, and sometimes they might not even be able to know what it is, but it is there all the same.

You're about to go down a very very deep philosophical hole with that type of thinking.

This is why i can lose hours on this website . I can read & discuss what items are best on toast.

Or get really deep and existential about the real meaning of the concept of what is truth.

yes delia - that's true

all requires critical thinking and not necessarily apportioning blame to understand - several things can be correct at the same time, rather than inserting the word "true" into situations that may require either perspective or further information to fully grasp.