The Truth About Truth

The famous “fate versus free will” debate has been argued for ages. The reason this question has been considered so many times is because there is no way to prove one side to be true; there is no way to win the debate. In order to prove a concept to be true, it is often necessary to provide some kind of evidence, either logical evidence or factual evidence, that supports the truth of the matter. For this particular debate, no proof exists on either side, so it becomes a debate of blind faith against blind faith. Because this debate cannot be won, the idea of even having the debate seems pointless to me.

Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Cat’s Cradle, turns this position on truth entirely upside down. Throughout the story, Felix Hoenikker, a scientist who developed the atomic bomb, is consistently denigrated by characters and portrayed as a careless, cruel man. We are told that Hoenikker did not pay attention to his family, hardly interacted with co-workers and only cared about his work. I feel Vonnegut formed this character to symbolize the factual, scientific approach to the truth. To juxtapose Hoenikker’s character, Vonnegut wrote Hoenikker’s late wife, Emily, to be a symbol for the emotional, spiritual approach to the truth. We learn that Emily's life centered around creating music, loving her children and developing human connections. Characters in Cat’s Cradle are very fond of Emily, who is portrayed in a positive light. Contrastingly, Hoenikker dedicated his life to finding the truth through experiments and research. Most of the characters dislike Hoenikker. With his development of these two opposite characters, Vonnegut appears to be conveying the message that science and proven facts are evils in life, whereas human connections and development are the right pathways to the truth.

At first, Vonnegut’s point about truth appeared to be backwards. I had always been taught that evidence is needed for proof of a truth. After pondering Vonnegut’s words, I think he was trying to tell us that there are two different levels of truth. There is a lower level of truth that can be explained by factual information. This is the kind of truth Hoenikker sought after. However, a superior level of truth, symbolized by Emily, can be found in broader questions that seek to explain what our purpose is in life and what love is, et cetera. Most of these superior truths deal with questions about humanity. These difficult questions cannot be answered with numbers, they must be explored philosophically. Because we are creatures of social interaction, it seems natural that the purest forms of truth deal with humanity.

Given that Vonnegut’s two levels of truth really do exist, I feel he must have had a purpose for informing us about these distinctions. Published in 1963, Cat’s Cradle was likely written in reaction to recent military conflicts around that time period, such as the nuclear scare in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. In response to these events, Vonnegut might be trying to tell us that, as we become more intent on developing scientific truths in the name of research, we lose focus on our true connection to humanity. Eventually, revolutions in science become destructive to humanity. These scientific truths can, in fact, be harmful.

I do not know if anyone will ever actually figure out these superior truths. Because there is no hard evidence, we resort to intuition and faith. These forms of proof lead me back to the original issue of fate and free will. This question will never be fully answered, but the thought processes that humans take when arguing over this issue will lead humans to truths are that are more meaningful and powerful than any scientific truth could ever be.