Truth and Utility

The pursuit of knowledge is a common archetype in human history. Philosophers and scientists throughout the years have dedicated their lives to update their beliefs and better understand the world. Today, when people read articles (like these) or take courses, they’re embarking on similar paths — to improve their comprehension of what is true in the world.

For any endeavour, it can be easy to get lost in the chase and forget the underlying target. Is the pursuit of knowledge actually a beneficial one? Are there instances where it is harmful to know certain ideas (that are true), or maybe instances where it is helpful to believe certain ideas (that are not true)?

The existence of these concepts shines a light on the distinction between the truthfulness of an idea and the usefulness in believing it. For the sake of rigour, let’s try to define what “true” and “useful” mean in this context.

Truthfulness/truth is synonymous with knowledge here, since we can think of knowledge as truth when it is believed/known by someone. Knowledge is still vague since it can be knowledge held by others or a group of people (e.g. allies, enemies, society). There are surely reasons that falsehoods (not true) ideas held by others (e.g. your teacher believing something incorrect) can aid in accomplishing your goals (e.g. that you did your homework in time). So truthfulness (in this article) specifically pertains to how in line an idea (that is believed by some individual (e.g. you)) is with reality (i.e. how correct/accurate it is).