Domains of Truth

As part of a more comprehensive framework model of truth that I am developing, I have identified a set
of distinct domains of truth, each of which has its own distinctive vocabulary, meanings, and truths. This
informal paper will briefly enumerate the many domains, but not explore them in depth.

The central thesis of this paper is that there is no one, single, universal truth for any particular matter,
but that each domain will have its own set of truths that won’t necessarily comport with or be relevant
to the truths of the other domains. In other words, in order to access the truth of a particular matter,
one must first identify the domain of interest.

One of my main motivations for detailing these domains of truth is to enable a more robust foundation
for artificial intelligence (AI) systems, particularly Strong AI. Enabling human-level intelligence in
machines requires a deeper understanding of the nature of meaning and truth, at a human level. But
such a foundation should help people better understand human meaning and truth as well.

Nature of a domain
Each domain will tend to have:

 Relevant domain(s) of existence. What exactly is the area of interest for the domain?
 Vocabulary. Terminology relevant to the domain.
 Meanings that are significant to those interested in the domain.
 Truths that can in theory be validated or are at least believed by a consensus of experts.
 Expectations for what exists in the domain and what phenomena can occurs
 Beliefs and knowledge that experts and other interested parties assert about the domain.
 Aspects of the domain that may not be known or not known with a high degree of certainty.
 Norms of behavior in the domain.
 Rules and processes in the domain.
 Collection of individuals who have expertise in the domain.
 Collection of individuals who have a significant interest in the domain.

Such details will not be explored in this paper, but are mentioned simply to highlight how or why distinct
domains are warranted.

Three worlds
There are really three distinct worlds to be described:

1. The natural world. The world of physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and cosmology.
2. The human social world. The world of people, psychology, social interaction, and social systems.
Technically, the animal world as well, to a more limited degree.
3. The world of man-made artifacts. The world of machines, buildings, structures, infrastructure,
everyday objects, appliances, electronics, computers, software, applications, information, and
data.
The model of domains of truth in this paper covers all three worlds, with special emphasis on the human
social world.

Flat model vs. hierarchy and classes

As will be seen shortly, quite a few of the domains of truth could be arranged in a hierarchy and grouped
in classes of closely related domains, but I decided to stick with a strictly flat model for simplicity.

Context
The concept of a domain can be considered synonymous with the concept of context — a domain
provides the context for the truth of a matter.

In a larger sense, context can be considered to be a set of domains, each of which has at least some
relevance to the truth of a given matter. Some matters may be limited to a single domain, but there will
commonly be more than one domain in which to consider a given matter. These can be angles, aspects,
perspectives, or points of view in a general sense.

Domains of truth
This enumeration of domains of truth is not in any absolute order, although the first few and last few do
tend to serve as bookends of the extremes of the domains.

1. The unknowable. If such a thing exists in reality, but at least conceptually.

2. Unaware ignorance. The great unknown that we seek to discover. Mysteries to be explored.
3. Willful, intentional ignorance. That which individuals and groups declare to be off limits or to be
avoided, even as others seek and promote its truth.
4. Blissful ignorance. That which is unknown with neither an intent to explore nor an intent to
avoid.
5. Simple truth, ground truth. Direct sensory, observational fact by sane persons with no vested
interest.
6. Vested interest fact. Direct sensory, observational fact that may be biased by vested interest.
7. Self-deception. Inability to reliably counter bias, vested interest, and conflicting interests in
one’s own mind.
8. Literal truth, factual statement. Sincere intention that one’s words really are truthful.
9. Not intended to be literal truth or factual statement. Casual, flippant manner of speech with
disregard to factual accuracy. Common for political speech.
10. Obvious. Obviousness. Casual, flippant assertion of truth without any significant justification,
even in the face of skepticism. Commonly driven by some combination of laziness, ignorance,
arrogance, or a desire to belittle, demean, be condescending, or otherwise disparage another
party. Obviousness is frequently very subjective or personal, or particular to a social group or
technical or professional discipline. What is obvious to a professional such as a lawyer or doctor
may not be so obvious to a layperson. Not to be confused with self-evident truth which is
honest, sincere, and based on common ground.
11. Self-evident truth. Deeper and more sincere than mere casual obvious truth. Probably could be
examined and possibly even justified as reasoned truth, but social and political motives avoid or
 even preclude the need for that. More of a strong belief or a defined truth. See U.S. Declaration
of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal…”
12. Connect the dots. Assertion that two or more facts are connected without any significant
justification being offered. Two distinct meanings (connected!): the child’s game for drawing
pictures and an assertion that the big picture can only be discerned by making intuitive leaps or
expert-level judgment or tacit knowledge. The former is an assertion of obviousness, the latter is
an attempt to evade the need for justification. Assertions based on connecting dots is not
necessarily not true, but is risky and healthy skepticism is warranted. Popular in the intelligence
community where information is frequently incomplete and sketchy.
13. Reasoned truth. A robust sequence and set of rational arguments can be made in favor of a
belief to assert or conclude its truth. Does depend on truth of assumptions and strength of
arguments, and limitations of any knowledge used by the reasoning. May commonly be
conditional: “If X, Y, and Z are true, then… is true”, without full knowledge about whether X, Y,
and Z are necessarily true. Alternatively, “Assuming X, Y, and Z are true…”
14. Conditional truth. Reasoned truth based on assertion or proof that some proposition must be
true if some other propositions happen to be true, without any knowledge whether those other
propositions are necessarily true. Such as “If X, Y, and Z are true, then P is true”, without full
knowledge about whether X, Y, and Z are necessarily true. Alternatively, “Assuming X, Y, and Z
are true, then P is true.”
15. Technical fact. Observation or measurement by devices or unbiased individuals with technical
training and expertise, such as professionals.
16. Scientific fact, ground truth. Technical facts as observed and measured by scientists.
17. Scientific theory. Attempts by scientists to describe relationships in phenomena. Theories evolve
from being speculative to being validated by real-world experiments.
18. Scientific model. Attempts by scientists to mathematically recreate phenomena.
19. Scientific knowledge. All that scientists know and both believe to be true and can prove to be
true by dint of real-world experiments. Knowledge also includes speculation about what might
be true, but that is a provisional truth, not an actual truth. The gray area between provisional
and actual truth is quite vague, telling us only what is more likely to be actually true, or not.
20. Scientific narrative. Attempts by scientists and science communicators to present scientific fact,
theory, models, knowledge, and speculation in plain English that can be comprehended by non-
scientists. May or may not accurately correspond to 100% of the underlying science.
21. Emergent properties. Based on appearance and perception rather than physical existence.
22. Defined truth. Arbitrary but useful assumptions. For example, our units of time and distance. No
justification is required to prove their truth since they are by definition arbitrary. They only need
to be useful and practical and widely accepted.
23. Assumptions. A strong belief lacking a strong technical justification. A close cousin to defined
truth. Not as arbitrary as defined truth, but the strength of belief in an assumption may not be
matched by an equally strong justification as should be sought. We may have good reason to
believe, but there may still be plenty of room for skepticism.
24. Statistics. Numbers don’t really tell a story — that requires interpretation and assumptions on
the reader’s part.
25. Mathematics. The rules that mathematicians use to construct mathematical systems, such as
how to prove theorems.
25. Mathematical systems. The specialized rules that mathematicians use to define particular
mathematical systems.

26. Social science fact. Discrete, observable features of social systems.

27. Social science study. Collections of social science facts and analyzed relationships.

28. Social science theory. Attempts by social scientists to describe relationships in social phenomena.

29.Social science model. Attempts by social scientists to mathematically recreate social phenomena.

The past. Events and conditions of the past. The historical record may be incomplete or a matter of
dispute and interpretation. See also: speculation.

The present. Events and conditions as the currently are, as they are happening. Ability to observe, sense,
and measure current events and conditions may be limited. We may and generally are able to sense the
present only after it has become the past.

The future. Events and conditions in the future. Some possibilities may be predetermined, but other
possibilities might not be knowable until they actually come to pass. The future is its own truth, distinct
from claims about the future — see also: forecasts, predictions, speculations.

Speculation. Wondering what might actually exist or be true. The world of scientists, police detectives,
nosy neighbors and coworkers, astrologers, futurists, pundits, and parents with children. Concerns the
past, present, and future. See also: forecasts, predictions, and the future.

Scientific speculation, speculative theories. The categorically distinct subset of speculation that has
science as its foundation, guide, and agenda. But, even given its very high-minded intentions, even the
best of scientists can sometimes come up with theories or objections to theories that are just wrong. As
consensus firms around speculative theories, they come to be regarded as truth. Validation through
real-world experiments confirms a shift from scientific speculation to validated theory.

Experts, expertise. Catch-all domain for all domains where recognized or self-proclaimed authorities
assert that they have a special claim to knowledge that significantly exceeds that of laypersons. That
said, experts are frequently wrong and knowledge is frequently revised.

Laypersons. The knowledge of individuals armed only with non-expert educational background and
experience. Laypersons don’t have the advantages of experts, but they still have access to general
knowledge and experience, including common sense.

General knowledge, common beliefs. Knowledge that is readily accessible to all persons, including and
especially laypersons. That said, common beliefs are not always necessarily true. There is still the
prospect that different social groups may not share the same specifics of general knowledge.

Common sense, general wisdom. Wisdom that is readily accessible to all persons, including and
especially laypersons. Generally tends to be true or at least true most of the time. There is still the
prospect that different social groups may not share the same specifics of common sense.

Estimation. Approximations of technical facts. May simply be a shortcut to save time, money, and
resources, or may not be practical to make a full and accurate observation, measurement, or count.
Forecasts. Speculative approximations of expectations for future events. See also: predictions,
speculation, and the future.

Predictions. Assertions about the future. As if the future had already happened. See also: forecasts,
speculation, and the future.

Discipline, branch of knowledge, area of interest. Each area of interest tends to have its own concepts,
terminology, rules, standards, processes, principles, practices, beliefs, and knowledge, such that truth in
one area does not necessarily imply truth in another area. For example, physics can’t say much about
biology, and biology can’t say much about physics.

Social constructs. Agreed upon beliefs of individuals or groups. They are not necessarily real or true
outside the individuals or groups that constructed, defined, or agreed upon these beliefs.

Social group fact. Something that members of a social group collectively believe is factually true. A social
group could be a community, neighborhood, region, nation, ethnicity, demographic group, family,
couple, or affinity group of unrelated individuals with some common interest.

Social group theory. Beliefs by members of a social group as to how some social phenomena operates.
What is true for one social group may not necessarily be true for another social group.

Social networks. Really just specialized forms of social groups, but individuals may be members of any
number of social networks, despite their main social group. (“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a
dog.”)

Subjective. No ultimate truth for all individuals and all groups. Each group or even each individual may
have their own truths on some matter. This is a catch-all domain to group all truths of all domains that
have some subjective aspect — the subject (observer) has their own agency with regards to what they
consider the truth of a matter.

Schools, schools of thought, birds of a feather. Selective or self-selective groups of people who consent
to share certain beliefs as truths. This is a general, catch-all class of domains, each sharing this common
thread of consensual agreement to share beliefs as truths.

Culture. Social group truths (facts and theories) common to society as a whole for an entire country or
other large swath of society as a whole. What is true within one culture is not necessarily true in another
culture.

Narrative. Social group theory couched to be especially compelling and persuasive. Combines otherwise
discrete facts and technical theories into a flowing and seemingly coherent narrative that is readable
and compelling to laypersons. May concern the past, the present, and/or the future. Not necessarily
completely true or based wholly on provable fact. There is a distinct intent to honestly convey truth to
the degree that is possible or practical, although a variety of biases may subvert the absolute truth. May
have an agenda distinct from a raw recital of underlying facts. May tend to be abstract or aggregated
rather than concrete and personal. Intended to represent the big picture. What may be true in one
narrative for one group may not necessarily be true in another narrative for another group.

Story. Narrative that is particularized to an individual or small group so that people can relate to the
narrative and underlying social group theory through human relation to the human details.
History. An account of the chronology of events, their perceived causes, and their perceived effects. May
or may not have a narrative quality. The intent is to be as objective as possible, but there are usually
biases at work. There may be multiple, competing, and even conflicting accounts of the same time
period.

Consensus. Some fact or theory that a compelling majority of individuals believe to be true.

Group consensus. Some fact or theory that a group of individuals believe to be true, typically with great
conviction and passion, despite any evidence or strong justification that individuals outside of the group
would find compelling.

Human nature, genes. How much of what we do or believe is driven or even compelled by human
nature and our genetic makeup? Even if not driven in a hard deterministic sense, at least strongly or
significantly influenced. But how does one accurately or even roughly tell or assess the impact of human
nature and genes on the one hand and mindful, willful mental intent on the other?

Meaning. The implications or consequences of a fact or truth, most especially for individuals and social
groups. A fact or raw truth may elicit strong emotional feelings in some people. In technical disciplines a
simple fact may be an indicator or clue about some larger process, a cause, or an effect to be expected.

Intuition. That which we know or believe to be true even if we cannot articulate why. Gut feeling.

Judgment. Experience combined with intuition proven over time. May not be able to clearly, plainly, and
completely articulate a robust justification. Besides experts and professionals, even laypersons can
achieve good judgment, although not all laypersons or even all so-called experts or professionals
necessarily achieve a significant degree of good judgment.

Tacit knowledge. Judgment of experts or professionals in some relatively narrow technical or

professional domain.

Propaganda. Politically or socially motivated narrative. Some mixture of fact and fiction, but the truth is
less relevant than the compelling nature of the narrative.

Imagination. Mentally visualizing what one would like to bring into existence.

Fantasy. Letting imagination go wild, unconstrained by what could actually be brought into existence
according to the laws of physics and social norms.

Fiction. Acceptance of propositions which are independent of truth in the real world, for purposes of
entertainment, diversion, or education. Novels, plays, movies, TV shows.

Fairy tales. A specialized version of fiction, typically targeted at children, frequently to teach a lesson or
values, but sometimes purely to entertain. The term is also applied to adult stories that have the style,
tone, or lack of credibility associated with a fairy tale rather than a wholly truthful story.

Fables. Analogous to fairy tales, but for adults and usually to teach a lesson or moral or values rather
than purely for entertainment.

Parables. Analogous to fables, but realistic so that the reader can more directly relate to the figures in
the story.
Myths. Narrative that tends to be a combination largely of contrived fantasy plus some kernel of factual
truth. Similar in purpose to fables and parables.

Dreams. Are they fiction or fantasy, or what? But they do have a truth of sorts.

Metaphors. Attempt to draw a parallel or analogy. Not literal truth, but can be confusing or vague how
much of the analogy is honestly and sincerely intended. In the final analysis, only a minimal amount of
the analogy needed to be intended to be truthful, but that is only a rough characterization. A metaphor
is a helpful explanatory technique, but should never be construed as a full and accurate description.

Memory. The human memory is an incredible phenomenon, but is all too frequently recall of memories
is not as reliable or accurate as we would like. An individual is entitled to believe the truthfulness of
their own memories, but others are equally entitled to treat recalled memories with at least some
degree of skepticism.

Suspicion, doubt. Tentative beliefs that seem justified, but lack any solid justification.

Confidence. A strong conviction or feeling of self-assurance whose strength belies whether or not it is
based on a solid justification.

Religion. The world of deities, theology, spirituality, dogma, heaven and hell, sin, and the promise of
redemption and grace. Beyond the scope of science, by definition.

Ideology. Any belief system. There may be a truth within a particular ideology, but it may not comport
with or be relevant to truths outside of that ideology.

Moral framework or theory. A high-minded belief system concerning values, obligation and duty,
beyond mere civic duty. Each moral framework may define its own truths.

Ethical framework or theory. A set of values and code of conduct, typically of a professional nature, such
as political office, law, medicine, business, and other professions. Each ethical framework may define its
own truths.

Values and virtues. Defined truths as to what one believes (or should believe from a social group
perspective) to be important in life. Tend to have some survival value for society or the individual.

Personal moral and ethical framework. Each individual chooses their own moral and ethical framework,
such as be joining a religion or profession or professional organization, or making a personal
commitment.

Personal values and virtues. Values and virtues specific to a particular individual. May be due to a
conscious choice, cultural influence, or accident of birth (DNA, gene expression.)

Legal system. A defined social contract for justice.

Law enforcement investigations. Leads can be followed with a fairly low bar for provable truth.

Court trials. Adversarial, posturing, diametrically opposing claims, special rules. The verdict and
judgment must follow the rules, but won’t necessarily be in alignment with the real world. The goal is to
approximate the truth of the real world, and may frequently succeed in doing so, but in the end it is still
only an approximation, whose veracity may be limited by the rules, if not practical issues.
Subjective court judgment, judicial discretion. The law and facts may be clear, but two different judges
or courts may come to divergent judgments on comparable or the same matters. Some of this may be
due to subjective personal issues, differences in education and training, differences in experience, or
subtle or dramatic differences in situations. Even when judges or courts are equally skilled and equally
experienced, they may still come to divergent judgments. And sometimes it may be merely a matter of
whim, time pressures, or personal temperament or interactions of temperaments between participants
in the courtroom. In some cases the differences may be warranted while in others they may be noisy
distractions from an overarching desire to achieve a more objective judgment.

Government intelligence. See also connect the dots. Questions of what constitutes a fair inference.
Questions of where the bar should be for justification as truth. Questions of the role of political
motivations.

Subjective personal. For any phenomena relevant to a range of individuals, each may perceive a
different truth. The truth of a matter varies across the group. In contrast with social group fact. See also
polls and opinion surveys.

Objective personal. What intellectually, emotionally or viscerally feels like truth to each particular
individual, regardless of the truth for other individuals? Truth to the individual. Their authenticity.

Private personal beliefs. Beliefs that an individual holds, independent from whether anyone else might
share that belief. Also key to an individual’s authenticity.

Personal beliefs. All beliefs that an individual holds, both shared with others and privately. This includes
any objective or scientific knowledge, objective personal beliefs, and subjective and private personal
beliefs. It may not be easy for an individual to sort out or quickly recall where particular beliefs
originated.

Con. Designed to simultaneously mislead but seem true. May in fact be true but misleading.

Gossip. Truth is certainly of great interest, but competes with extreme interest in even the most remote
possibility of scandal. See also game of telephone

Affairs/matters of the heart. Truth may be strategically hidden, selectively expressed, exaggerated, or
even misrepresented when romance or close relationships are involved.

Game of telephone. Expectation of loss of fidelity at each stage. No expectation of reliable transmission
of factual truth. See also gossip.

Illusion. Sincere but mistaken beliefs about what our perceptions are telling us.

Magic trick. Illusion for purposes of entertainment.

Word games. Implied meanings due to ambiguities and multiple senses for the meanings of words,
including homonyms. Speaker and listener may each have a valid interpretation, but they may not be
the same.

Games. Rules, meanings, constraints. Unconstrained by the real world and social norms outside of the
game. Winning is the ultimate truth.
Sports. Games with a physical world, physical contact component. Focus on time, distance, and physical
achievements.

Boasting. An exaggerated manner of speech, not intended to be literal truth.

Conspiracy theories. Narrative and stories that are believed more for their emotional impact than strict,
provable, factual truth. Something can be true within a particular conspiracy theory without necessarily
being true in the real world.

Negotiation. Deception is expected and necessary. Winning is the ultimate truth, although a win-win
outcome can be especially valued in some contexts.

Debate. Emotional impact is more highly valued than literal truth. Exaggeration and promises are
expected.

Sales and marketing. Can be very misleading. Appeals to emotion more than reason.

Political party. Ideology, values, platform.

Political campaign. Promises, accusations.

Political posturing. Once in office. Winning and effect are more valued than honesty, sincerity, and
integrity.

Journalism. Varying degrees of intent for objectivity. Even with sincere intent, practical limitations may
limit objectivity. May be biased or slanted, even if not intentionally.

News. Generally intended to be as factually true as possible, but stymied by many practical issues such
as time, resources, and access, as well as bias issues.

Fake News. Intentionally slanted, misleading, or biased, for political, social, or entertainment value.

Commentary. Opinion, but generally intended to be a truth of sorts.

Satire, parody. Intent to focus on limited aspects of a matter to denigrate for social, political, or
entertainment value.

Artistic license. AKA art license, poetic license, historical license, dramatic license, narrative license,
licentia poetica, creative license, or simply license. A permissible and laudable intentional distortion of
literal truth or outright fabrication of facts in the name of art. Generally considered a good thing,
especially in the context of entertainment, but when such art is used within the context of other
domains such as science, politics, and various social spheres, it can be very misleading and even harmful.
One wouldn’t wish to be treated by a doctor engaging in artistic license — unless it involves cosmetic
surgery.

Media. May have enterprise objectives very different from pure objectivity, such as profit, social goals,
or bias and agenda of the owners, executives, and managers.

Polls and opinion surveys. May be “scientific”, but still many bias issues.

Evidence. Artifacts that may hold clues to the truth, although may fall short of conclusive, definitive
proof.
Proof. Evidence that purports to firmly, conclusively, and definitively prove the truth of a matter.

Red herrings. A proposition that is true but misleading or not relevant. We can get distracted by its
apparent truth and draw an improper conclusion about its implications.

Conventional wisdom. The strength of existing beliefs can deter us from accepting that those existing
beliefs are insufficient for a particular matter. For example, the assumptions underlying beliefs may no
longer be true or as relevant as they once were.

Art, beauty, aesthetics. There is a very broad scope for divergence of views about what constitutes truth
in art, beauty, and aesthetics in general. There are many schools to choose from, each with its own
truths.

Alien civilizations. They’re entitled to their own truths, as well as the truth of the worlds that they live in.

Ultimate, universal, objective truth. Aspirational ideal, even if not practical for mere mortals. Accessible
only to an omniscient deity.

Eternal truth. Anything that remains true independent of time. It was always true and will always be
true. May not necessarily be known or accessible.

Philosophical truth. May be a synonym for eternal truth, or may be that which philosophers generally
agree is true.

Existence. All that exists, as it exists. Its mere existence, properties, and state are true by definition,
independent of how we may perceive it, if we even perceive it at all. Existence is truth.

Multiverse. Existence of other universes, each with truths of its own.

God’s knowledge, God’s truth. The ultimate truth, presuming the deity is truly omniscient.