Context:
The following is an excerpt from a conversation I had with my friend, Tyler Wang, after watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TedTalk in my AP Language & Composition class. My teacher asked how Anne Lamott asserts that: "all truth is a paradox." She explains: "Life is both a precious, unfathomably beautiful gift, and it's impossible here, on the incarnational side of things. It's filled simultaneously with heartbreaking sweetness and beauty, desperate poverty, floods and babies and acne and Mozart, all swirled together." In what ways do you see truth as a paradox in our world?
Tyler Wang:
When it comes to discussions and the realities of the world, truth is an unbiased observer. Often times, two true ideas can conflict each other, seemingly paradoxical. I think some truths are also shaped by the individual rather by fact. It's people's perception of truth that ultimately makes it paradoxical.
Aiden Seo:
Yes, I agree! People most of the time don't realize the relativity of their situation. For example, a teenager's crisis over hitting a car at Chatfield HS parking lot is a real and valid "truth" for them at that moment. At the same time, a child in Gaza is facing the truth of starvation, struggling to stay alive. Both are truths, but they exist on different scales, which illustrates the paradox you are talking about.