One Truth At A Time - By Mark A. Israel

Can one be right, and wrong at the same time, on the same subject? We were told, in Physics, that the value of g -acceleration due to gravity - varies across the universe. Its value on earth is different from that on the moon. Even its value about the earth surface is dependent on location, altitude, latitude... etc. As one goes higher above the earth surface the value of g decreases. In essence, at a particular location, irrespective of who does the measurement, the value is constant.

How about letters? Are they constant in their uniqueness? Can a 'W', when inverted, become an 'M'? When I was in camp in Akwa Ibom, a lady, very beautiful and intelligent, came to lecture us on Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. On one of the days, she held up a bold sketch, on a cardboard, of the letter 'W'. "What letter is this?" She asked, as if she were a class teacher, and we, her pupils. Dobliyu, we chorused. She then inverted the cardboard and asked again, "what letter is this?" Of course we told her it was an 'M'. She said we were right in the two instances, and that people disagreed because they viewed issues from different perspectives. Though I understood the message she was passing across that day, but I knew she was wrong about us being right in the two instances. How can W, by mere rotation, become M? We saw M because we did not notice that, unlike a typical M, the strokes at the two ends in the inverted W were not parallel.

So, what am I saying? Issues can be viewed in as many perspectives as there are eyes, but only one perspective can be right at a particular time. How do we know the right perspective then? How can that instructor who sees M and an inverted W as the same letter know and accept that she's wrong? It's simple! We must be flexible and approach every issue with open mind. Sometimes, when we listen to other people's version of truths, we see the flaws in ours.
Remember, this is my own version of the truth. Feel free to tear it to sheds.

-Mark Ademola Israel