Absolute and Relative Facts

A distinction between facts that hold independently of any perspective or context, and facts that are true only within a specific framework. Absolute Facts are the ones everyone must accept regardless of their beliefs: water is H2O, gravity exists, you were born on a specific date. Relative Facts are true relative to a particular system: the fact that "this painting is beautiful" is true relative to your aesthetic framework but not universally; the fact that "this move is illegal" is true relative to the rules of chess. The trouble starts when people treat Relative Facts as Absolute, or deny Absolute Facts because they conflict with their Relative framework.

Absolute and Relative Facts "He keeps saying his 'facts' are different from my 'facts.' But gravity is an Absolute Fact—it doesn't care about your perspective. Whether this painting is 'good' is a Relative Fact, and we can disagree without one of us being wrong about reality."

by Dumu The Void February 23, 2026

Absolute and Relative Truths

A companion distinction to Absolute/Relative Facts, but focused on propositions rather than brute reality. Absolute Truths are statements that correspond to reality in a way that transcends all perspectives, contexts, and frameworks. "2+2=4" is an Absolute Truth in arithmetic. Relative Truths are statements that are true within a particular framework but not necessarily outside it. "Stealing is wrong" might be true within a moral framework but isn't a brute fact about the universe. The confusion arises when people insist their Relative Truths are Absolute, or when they use the existence of Relative Truth to deny that any Absolute Truth exists at all.

Absolute and Relative Truths "You think your moral code is absolutely true for everyone, but it's actually just true relative to your culture and upbringing. Meanwhile, you're using that relativism to deny that 'torturing babies for fun is wrong' might actually be an Absolute Truth. Pick a struggle."

by Dumu The Void February 23, 2026

Fallacy of Absolute Privation (Fallacy of Communism Killed Millions)

A logical fallacy where someone dismisses an entire ideology, system, or idea by pointing to its worst outcomes, stripped of all context, history, and mitigating factors. The name comes from the classic "Communism killed millions" argument—which isn't false on its face, but becomes fallacious when used to end all discussion without examining specific contexts, variations, alternatives, or comparative harms. The Fallacy of Absolute Privation isolates the worst instances, treats them as the whole truth, and uses suffering as a conversation-stopper. It's not that the suffering isn't real—it's that citing it without context, comparison, or analysis is a rhetorical weapon, not an argument. Any system, ideology, or idea can be condemned by its worst expressions; the fallacy is pretending that's the end of the story.

Fallacy of Absolute Privation (Fallacy of Communism Killed Millions) "We were discussing educational reforms, and someone mentioned learning from Nordic models. Response: 'Nordic socialism? You mean like Communism that killed millions?' That's the Fallacy of Absolute Privation—conflating Nordic social democracy with Soviet communism, ignoring all context, and using historical tragedy to shut down discussion of school lunch programs."

by Dumu The Void February 24, 2026