2025-06-23
From the Rift Valley to the 21st century’s modern world, humans have come across a long journey. The story of the human species is the most interesting and inspiring story of all, from a creature of no significance wandering the African continent to becoming the master of the world, our story is the most fascinating one. We are the finest creation of nature, that possess not only a capacity to understand and adapt to nature, but also the capacity to control and change nature according to our will. Journey from no significances to the master of the nature, Humans have been showing extraordinary capacity and power to understand and change the nature. Human’s collective or our power to act and live in groups enable this extraordinary ability. Two things — Truth and Order — are the building blocks of our collective and the power enable by that collective.
Before beginning with the main theme of the article, I am defining what I mean by Truth and Order.
Truth
Truth is our ingenuity, curiosity, and willingness to explore and understand world around as — both natural and social. It is the fundamental of scientific thinking. Truth is our instinct and ability to explore the unexplored, know the unknown. It is the sources of progress — material and social, our ambition to control nature. Truth encompasses a vast array of aspects, from understanding structure and functioning of natural world, to understanding our social world — formed by humans — and collective associations. In a strict social sense, truth refer to understanding how and why human collective function, for whom they function, how collectives are structured and on what basis.
Order
Order refers to the social arrangements, systems, and structures that provide the necessary environment where humans live, flourish, grow, and lead a somewhat fulfilling life — depending. Order is the existing system — social — that guides and regulates human interrelations and interactions. It gives and maintains necessary condition for large groups of people to act, cooperate, and live together. It encompasses the laws, rules, ideas, customs, and norms that shape our lives.
Human society has always struggled with the dilemma of what to prioritize — truth or order. It is order which gives the ease of knowing truth, making scientific breakthroughs or inquiring into our past actions. Truth is what gives us the power to realize human agency, control nature, and progress, making the existing order and way of life possible. Without the drive for truth, not be possible, 21st century life. Landing on the moon, establishing a robust communication network — the internet, flying through the skies, building bridges across seas and that span miles, to cities that light up the night, to skylines that touch the sky. All of these made possible by our drive and ambition for truth.
Then, what is the problem? Well, problems arise when the inquiry into truth or truth itself challenges the order. It is order which gives the ease of truth, but when truth itself challenges the order, issues arise. Humans always have an inner contradiction of what to choose — order or truth. Selecting order might give stability, but at the cost of progress — humanity’s most important quality. There are many examples in history, giving preference to order has led to a society that is backward and underdeveloped over time. For instance, society that India had during Middle Ages — there might have been some innovation, but society at large was backward. Alternatively, we can take the example of England and France, English drive for truth or we can say openness allowed them to develop a progressive society that transformed from a feudal society to a capitalist society sooner than the French did. Openness of English society enabled England to produce great thinkers and scientists, who’s works were instrumental in transforming a tiny state — not significant for the world in most of history — into a global hegemon in control of a vast empire and global oceans.
However, progress does not mean only scientific breakthroughs; it also means social breakthroughs. It can be debated what is more important — scientific or social breakthroughs. However, what is more important does not matter. Both have a role in overall human progress and development. Scientific breakthroughs enable us to understand and control nature — darkness through electricity and light bulbs, death with medicines, distance with aircraft, ships, cars and global communication systems, and the harshness of nature with shelters and society — it is not even possible to mention all. At the same time, social breakthroughs are also very crucial, it is the social settings that enable cooperation among various scientific or natural advancements. Social breakthroughs — modern state, capitalism, financial systems and democracy — enable and provide the means under which people can apply their reason and logic to understand nature and make innovations and discoveries. For instance, for a group of bio scientists to make a vaccine it requires multiple things — funding, materials, equipment, knowledge of acquired in past. These necessities always provided by the social system; for example, some organizations provide funding, materials and equipment; a state that regulates the transactions and make sure everything is fair and legal; educational institutions and cultural creations — language, norms, behavior, interaction and interrelation — that preserve and pass on previous knowledge. Both social and scientific progress are important and mutually reinforcing.
However, devoting too much attention and energy to truth, also leads to decay of a society that enabled truth seeking or openness at first place. For instance, consider the USA, American social system is facing many issues such as polarization, dissatisfaction, backlash against past actions. Their open approach led to inquiries into past actions such as slavery, racial discrimination, gender inequalities. Although, these actions, not performed now, may in some cases but not legal, people who did not exist now, inquiries into these topics leading to social turmoil. This has resulted in a heated conflict between advocates — order and truth.
In strict social settings, the search for truth might not result in any answer, because most of the things upon which social systems functions are based on beliefs and trust, may not be consciously realizable — normally, but exist that form the basis for social associations and interrelations. For instance, the financial system, in surface it may look like it based on laws and rules, but actually it is based on trust and mutual agreement. It is based on our shared view and belief in money. If this belief does not exist or hurt seriously, the whole system will collapse. Things such as rules, procedures, and laws that form the assumption that the financial system is based on rules and laws, laws are themselves are based on our belief of the state or country. Certainly, it is true that these rules and laws ensure smooth functioning of the system, and no one can exploit or deteriorate the system, has a place in life — social.
Let’s shift our attention to the state. If someone asks what a state is, one might give the following answer:
“A territorial sovereign political organization that has absolute control over a certain territory, and people and resources within that territory”
The term “Organization” in this definition of the state reveals that the state is also based on human beliefs; it is not just an organization that has physical control over a territory — monopoly on violence. The state itself is not a physical entity, it is a shared belief that a state is there, some work for it — government officials, military personnel, political leadership — and some work under it — population on the territory of the state. Because a large number of people share this belief, it perceives like is a real entity. It is a social entity — a social breakthrough — formed by our shared belief that manifest itself from our minds. As it is shared by many, able to exert its will, manifest itself through — executive, judiciary, military, laws and rules, bureaucracy etc. The sources of power of a state are not the physical power, rather the minds of its population in where it exists, that collective view or belief manifest itself as physical force and power.
But, if too much focus is given to truth regarding social institutions or systems, certainly not going to find meaning full result, rather that chances of breakdown of the system, which would be even worse. Certainly, in some cases, breakdown of social systems is needed — such as sati system or caste system. But too much focus on truth and too fast might lead to breakdown of entire social system.
But here lies the conflict, preserving the social system or order, preventing truth or human inquiry has definitely led to backwardness and underdevelopment. Deciding What to prioritize is always a tough challenge for humanity. What truth to allow, what to not, which itself working against the progress, balance truth and order. Which systems should be allowed to break down, how to balance the truth and order so that society’s progress is not hindered while preserving social order and making it flexible enough to deal with the truth that challenges its stability.
In this short text, I explore truth and order, their roles, and how both are crucial for human development. While in a short text, it is not possible to explore every detail in full, which would require a whole book rather than just a small chapter, I have attempted to provide an overview of truth and order.