Commonly used but erroneous means to arrive at truth:

By association.

By social concensus.

Tradition (concensus of the past)

How these erroneous means are leveraged and influenced in society:

Others appear to believe it – “how invested parties can cause apparent conviction among some to spread to many”

Respected/influential individuals appear to believe it.

Government appears to believe it.

Team mindset. – “We need to be on the same page to get the job done”

Probablistic nature of truth:

Truth is a matter of probability, of whether an outcome is likely to be realized in x iterations.

The higher the probability, the closer to absolute truth (which is unachievable)

Truth, as it is impossible to prove 100%, and conversely it is impossible to disprove 100% meaning anything is always possible.

Can truth be derived empirically? A toolbox.

Many angles from disparate sources – “In order to build up probability”

Utility – “Rubber meets the road. Theory meets reality.”

Logical consistency – “Boolean Logic in Computer Science is measured in terms of True/False. Logic and truth are intimately intertwined”