Truth & Reality

This is just one of those things that happens occasionally to me.

I was shopping aimlessly when suddenly I thought to myself 'Yes, truth and reality are separate and distinct.' Then a moment of panic when I couldn't help but think 'But why? And how? Omg do I not know this? How can something be real but not true? How can something be true but not real? What is the point of my life if I don't know this?'

After which I mass sms-ed all the people I thought could give me an answer.

Those who didn't get my sms, you know who you are. And now you even know what I think of you.

Those who did get an sms, to tell the truth, I set the bar pretty low.

Anyway, the moment I sent out my x no. of smses, I suddenly realised that there was something wrong with my question because 'real' and 'truth' relate to different things.

Quite simply, 'real' relates to the existence of something. Doesn't need to be a corporeal existence as long as it's an existence. 'True' relates to statements of fact.

So I can say 'The cat is real.' And then I can say 'That statement (the statement that the cat is real) is true.' Or untrue. 'Real' refers to the cat; the cat is real because it exists. 'True' refers to the statement of fact about the cat (that it exists); the statement is true if the cat is real, and it is untrue if the cat is not real. We can't say that the cat is 'true' or 'not true'.

If I say that a statement is real I mean that it exists. If I say that a statement is true I mean that it accurately tells us what reality is.

Reality & truth are still linked very closely. but in this way:

Can a statement that an object is real be untrue if the object is real (exists)? No.

Can a statement that an object is real be true if the object is not real (does not exist)? No.

True statements reflect reality, but essentially, truth and reality reside in different objects, so my question was itself flawed.

I know, I know. This is totally dumb and there's absolutely no reason why I should be thinking about this, and there're probably many anti-reasons for actually spending a whole blog on this. But I truly had to get it out of my system. Seriously, have you ever had a question haunt you? No? You suck.

The solution seems simple enough to me now. I just hope I don't wake up tomorrow and realise that everything I've said here is flawed and have to think about it all over again.