Are some ways of knowing more likely than others to lead to truth?

        But technically if our mind perceives something to be true like the oasis in the middle of the desert then in our reality our perception of the image is true. This is seen similarly in the cartoon of the cave and the shadows. In the cave their perception of reality was that everything was in two dimensions but in societies reality the world is actually in three dimensions and it is filled with colors. So as long as your perceived knowledge is not challenged or questioned than you will always know the truth. It just may not be accepted by the rest of society. 

        Reason is the ability to help people decide what is true and what is not. Most of the time, reason is more commonly related to math and science subjects, where logic is put into place in order to obtain logical validity and justify claims. Through observations and experiments, we can prove, within reason, whether a hypothesis is true or not, and in the end, broaden and individual’s knowledge. On the other hand, reason can cloud knowledge to a certain extent, in the case of different culture beliefs as well as more creative subjects such as music and art. This is because we also rely on emotion and perception. If we were to only use reason in the creative subjects our work would be dull and boring and everyone’s works would be the same because reason will only lead you to the most factual and evident truth. Which in some cases such as the arts the most evident truth is not what is desired but instead the most emotional pleasing work is what is desired. In other words, reason can help us gain knowledge, but only to a certain extent, therefore, there are strengths and weaknesses in the case of reason as a way of obtaining knowledge.

        Even though all ways of knowing are interconnected and one way will lead you to another way which will then lead you to the truth, emotion is usually most irrational way of knowledge. Emotion is an irrational reaction that over powers the rational and reasoning thoughts of an individual and leads an individual to rash decisions or untruthful facts. As a basketball player emotion controls much of my actions and thoughts in a game. In many cases this excessive emotion is a good and necessary factor that raises my abilities to the next level. But it can also lead myself and other individuals to wrong accusations and truths. For example in a close and heated game a ref made a call against my team that said our point guard traveled. Now my emotions were so high at this point in the game that I perceived the call as a bad call and I thought that the player didn’t travel. Of course I perceived the call incorrect because after the game I watched the tape and the ref had made the correct call. Mainly due to the fact that his emotional level in the game was much lower than mine so he was able to use his correct reasoning skills to perceive the correct call. In this example my reasoning skills were over shadowed by my emotions which in turn lead me to an incorrect truth. So in other words emotion by itself is a horrible way of knowledge to discover the truth in your perceptions.

        In conclusion I would have to say that the only way of knowing that by itself will lead to the truth is reason. Besides that all other ways of knowing cannot lead you to truth but if there is a combination of all the ways of knowing in the search for truth then and only then can truth actually be found by an individual. Just like if you were getting a job recommendation, you wouldn’t ask for a recommendation from just one person you consider all possibilities so the boss gets a full picture of you as an employee. So the only way to find truth in life that is accepted by all of society is to consider all possible ways of knowing.