THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE ESSAY

To what extent do you agree with the claim that !there"s a world of
difference between truth and facts” (Maya Angelou)? Answer with reference
to two areas of knowledge.

WORD COUNT: 1560

There is a common misconception that truth and fact are interchangeable. It is

assumed by many that if something is true, it has to be a fact, but in reality, there may or

may not be a !world of differences” between them. !World of difference” signifies a very

large difference between something. A fact is objective and is undeniably true, as

determined by empirical investigation and quantitative metrics. However, truth is only a

projection of fact that incorporates one"s personal beliefs and values, making it

somewhat subjective. People frequently accept things as true because they are closer

to their beliefs, can be readily integrated into their belief systems, or mirror their

preconceived conceptions of reality. In the context of my two AOKs, natural sciences

and history, truth and fact are associated with different explanations. These two AOKs

were chosen because of their contrasting methodologies, providing diverse content for

analysis. In natural sciences, a fact is an observation, repeatedly proven through a

specific methodology and experimentation whereas truth is knowledge and

understanding gained from facts about our universe. In history, a fact is a historical

event that took place and has official records to back it up, whereas truth in history

would be the causes or consequences of a particular historical event.

In terms of natural sciences, truth and facts have little to no distinction. Scientific

facts are based on established evidence, gathered through the appropriate

methodology and thorough experimentation. Truths are just projections of these facts

and are agreed upon by the scientific community. Therefore, truth and fact go hand in

hand. An example of Einstein can be used from physics class. In 1915, when the

German-born theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, published his well-versed theory of

general relativity, he predicted that the gravitational pull of black holes was strong

enough to bend light right around them. Lack of factual evidence caused uncertainty

about the prediction and behaviour of the black hole. The truth for more than a century

after Einstein"s theory was that black holes ``eat up” light and any matter that comes

near to it. However, this prediction was left unproven until recently. On 28th August

2021, astronomers detected light coming out of a supermassive black hole. Numerous

unexpected "luminous echoes”, coming from behind the blackhole, were

discovered.These echoes, according to Einstein, were bending space-time, allowing

light to go around the black hole (Turner). Therefore the presence of evidence proved

Einstein"s speculation of his theory, that he believed to be true. It offered a more factual

backdrop for Einstein's theory, making it more acceptable and true to a larger audience.

In this example, truth is backed up by factual evidence which makes truth and facts

closely related to one another.

Conversely, some facts in natural science can lead to different understandings of

truth, especially when seen from the perspective of non-scientific

communities.Therefore widening the gap between truth and fact. For example, in 1871,

the infamous English naturalist, geologist and biologist Charles Darwin published his

book, !The descent of Man” in which he proposed that humans and apes have a

common ancestry (Houe). Contrary to the common perception of the general public,

Darwin did not claim that humans evolved directly from apes, he rather gave a

projection of truth from his factual findings, in the form of a theory. However, people

from religious orientations such as Islam posed serious rejection to his theory.

According to their holy book, Quran, all human beings are children of Adam and Eve, as

stated, !Truly, We have honored the children of Adam” (Quran 17:70). Hence followers

of islam nullified Darwin"s claim on the basis of their Quranic teachings. So the truth for

people from similar religious orientations is that all human beings are descended from

Adam and Eve. However, in the scientific realm, there is proof that apes and humans

have common genes and there is a possibility that humans and apes might have a

common ancestor. This example reflects that there is a world of difference between truth

and facts as the scientific community believes that evolution takes place, however, in

some religious communities the concept of humans evolving from apes is strongly

opposed

Henceforth, in regard to the natural sciences, mostly there isn"t any world of

difference between truth and facts, as facts collectively make up a truth. For instance,

Einstein"s theory of general relativity only became the truth in science, until there was

enough factual evidence to support the assertion. However, in some cases, acceptance

of scientific truth by the general public is influenced by their own cultural beliefs. This is

particularly true when theories of science, based on facts, clash with society's beliefs

creating multiple versions of truth. In that case, the gap between fact and !truth” is

significant. As in the case of Darwin"s theory of evolution, religious communities and

scientists believe in their own truths. Furthermore, it can still be pointed out that the

difference of opinion in natural science about truth is only justified and open to debate

because theories in science are not a complete truth, rather a projection of truth based

on scientific facts.

On the other hand, truth and facts in history are sometimes closely related. Just

like natural sciences, there is a specific rigorous methodology for collecting facts about

history. They collect verdicts and knowledge from different people and if there is a

common stance between all the verdicts, then that knowledge is declared as a fact.

Hence at times, there isn"t always a vivid difference between fact and truth in History.

For example, the battle of Midway took place from June 4, 1942, to June 7, 1942 (Onion

et al.). A movie named !Midway” was based on the event of this battle which led me to

take this as an example specifically from WW2. Six months after the attack on Pearl

Harbor, the Japanese Navy and the United States Navy fought the Battle of Midway,

with the US navy emerging victorious. (Onion et al.). There are several official records,

including radio messages which are compiled and published by the US navy (United

States Navy), proving that this battle occurred. Many historians, like Anthony Tully and

Dallas Woodbury, authored research articles on this war and concur with substantial

evidence that it took place. Along with irrefutable evidence that this war occurred, the

majority of people thinking that this battle occurred also makes it a fact. As a result, in

this case, truth and facts are inextricably linked.

However, at the same time, the truth may be different for different people due to

different narratives and beliefs. For example, various historians hold opposing views on

the causes for Japan's defeat. Historians Anthony Tully and Lu Yu after analyzing the

battle argue that communication failure that prevented Admiral Nagumo from knowing

the presence of U.S. carriers in Midway was the major cause of defeat. According to

reports, Air Staff Officer Yoshioka Tadakazu revealed to Mori that there was an error in

the replication of the message log that he produced (Tully and Yu). Hence the truth for

Tully and Yu is that communication failure led to the defeat of the Japanese as they

could not prepare themselves in time for the U.S carriers. Contrary to this, another

historian Dallas Woodbury argues that the rearmament of the Japanese planes to strike

Midway for a second time led to the defeat of the Japanese. Rearming the torpedoes

required almost one hour to rearm one torpedo according to Dallas. Moreover, the

rearming procedures were not performed on all the 18 planes simultaneously, not one at

a time. Rather the torpedo planes were rearmed in shifts. This took a handful of times

and gave the US a chance to strike back (Woodbury). This led Dallas into believing that

the major reason for the Japanese defeat was the amount of time taken to rearm the

torpedo planes for a second attack on Midway. Henceforth, in History, may exist a

difference but not a !world of difference” as the fact is the same, however,

interpretations of the outcomes may vary as different people have a different point of

view.

Conclusively, we can draw from this argument that mostly in natural sciences,

there isn"t a world of difference between truth and facts because knowledge in science

is based on facts created through scientific methodology. Hence scientific truth and

scientific fact are almost the same. However, an exception can exist when scientific

theories are used to project the truth. In that case, the interpretation of truth can be

different. The AOK of natural science helped me understand the importance of accurate

facts and how different narratives can temper truth and fact. In the context of history, a

world of difference between truth and fact may not exist as can be seen in the example

of the battle of Midway. The occurrence and outcome of the battle is a historical fact as

it was documented and acknowledged all over the world. However, in history, the aspect

of perspective and personal beliefs/bias can influence the interpretation of facts, as

presented by the difference in viewpoints of Tully and Woodbury. The AOK of history

helped me realize the importance of interpretations and biases, which is why I believe

historians must be more attentive of diverse viewpoints on a particular event in order to

make unbiased conclusions.

Works Cited

Houe, Poul. !The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex | work by Darwin.”

Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Descent-of-Man- and-

Selection-in-Relation-to-Sex. Accessed 16 February 2022.

Kubota, Taylor. !First detection of light from behind a black hole | Stanford News.”

Stanford News, 28 July 2021, http://www.news.stanford.edu/2021/07/28/first-

detection-light-behind-black-hole/. Accessed 8 February 2022.

Live Science, 29 July 2021, http://www.livescience.com/einstein-proven-right- black-

hole. Accessed 2 March 2022.

Onion, Amanda, et al. !Battle of Midway - Location, Outcome & Significance -

HISTORY.” History.com, 17 December 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/

world-war-ii/battle-of-midway. Accessed 13 January 2022.

Tully, Anthony, and Lu Yu. !A Question of Estimates: How Faulty Intelligence Drove

Scouting at the Battle of Midway.” US Naval War College Digital Commons, http://

www.digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=nwc-

review. 15 January 2022.

Turner, Ben. !Light from behind a black hole spotted for 1st time, proving Einstein right.”

United States Navy. !Battle of Midway Memoranda and Reports - World War II

Documents Collection - National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive.” Digital

Archive, https://digitalarchive.pacificwarmuseum.org/digital/collection/p16769coll3/

id/4/. 15 January 2022.

Woodbury, Dallas. !The Battle of Midway: Why the Japanese Lost.” CORE, http://

www.digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2562&context=nwc-

review. 15 January 2022.