Criteria of Truth - Time

Time

Time is a criterion commonly appealed to in debate, often referred to as "the test of time". This criterion posits that over time erroneous beliefs and logical errors will be revealed, while if the belief is true, the mere passage of time cannot adversely affect its validity. Time is an inadequate test for truth, since it is subject to similar flaws as custom and tradition (which are simply specific variations of the time factor). Many demonstrably false beliefs have endured for centuries and even millennia. It is commonly rejected as a valid criterion. For example, most people will not convert to another faith simply because the other religion is centuries (or even millennia) older than their current beliefs.

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Famous quotes containing the word time:

    “Progress of a marriage:
    “There was a time when you couldn’t
    make me happy.
    Now the time has come when you can’t
    make me unhappy.””
    —Irving Layton (b. 1912)

    “So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect, that the pith of each man’s genius contracts itself to a very few hours.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The yuppie idea of the future ain’t my idea of a future. Your safe car, and home, and job, and all the time rushing between the three—let’s make people feel they can grow up and have some education, some interest in life! That’s what counts!”
    —Joe Strummer (b. 1952)