Distinguishing Facts, Truth, and Information

While often used interchangeably, facts, truth, and information represent distinct concepts, especially when examined closely in philosophy, law, and data management.

---

Facts vs. Truth

The main difference lies in their nature: a fact is an objective, verifiable reality, whereas truth is often a more subjective, philosophical concept—a property of a claim or belief that aligns with reality or an accepted standard.

Aspect	Fact	Truth
Nature	Objective, indisputable, concrete reality. Exists independent of belief.	Subjective or universal concept, often a property of a proposition or belief.
Verifiability	Can be proven or verified through evidence, measurement, or demonstration.	Refers to the state or quality of being in accordance with reality or an accepted standard.
Change	Does not change (or only changes if the physical reality changes).	Can be more fluid, influenced by perspective, belief, or context.
Relationship	Facts are what make a statement or proposition true.	Truth is the quality of a statement or belief that corresponds to facts.

Examples

Category	Fact	Truth (a true proposition or belief)
Science	Water boils at $100^{\circ }\text{C}$ at standard atmospheric pressure.	"It is true that 100∘C is the boiling point of water" (A claim about the fact).
History	World War II ended in 1945.	The historical truth is that the war caused immense suffering (A broader, accepted reality informed by facts).
Personal	I have a headache right now. (Can be verified by brain scans or self-reporting).	Honesty is the best policy. (A value or principle, accepted as a general 'truth' by many).
Observation	The car is red. (A verifiable observation).	The red car is beautiful. (A subjective claim/belief that is "true" to the speaker).

---

Why We Say "The Truth" in Court

In a legal setting, witnesses are sworn to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." This choice of wording emphasizes a greater scope than simply listing a few facts:

• Seeking Substantive Truth: A trial's goal is to establish the substantive truth—the actual reality of what happened—based on the evidence presented. It's not just about a collection of isolated facts, but the coherence and completeness of a witness's account in relation to the event.

• Beyond Isolated Facts: "The truth" encompasses a person's full and honest account, including their perspective, recollection, and intent. A witness could state a fact (e.g., "The light was green") but omit another critical fact (e.g., "I ran the green light while texting"), which would render their testimony untruthful.

• A Property of Statements: From a philosophical perspective, truth is a property of a statement, assertion, or proposition. When a witness swears to tell "the truth," they are promising that the statements they make will conform to reality (the facts) as they know it. Swearing on a set of independent facts (like "The Earth is round") would be meaningless; they are swearing on the veracity of their claims.

• The Burden of Proof: Ultimately, the court combines the testimonial truths and proven facts to reach a formal legal truth, which is a finding of fact based on the legal standard of proof (e.g., beyond a reasonable doubt).

---

Information vs. Facts

Information and facts relate to each other in a hierarchical way, often illustrated by the Data-Information-Knowledge hierarchy. A fact can be a unit of information, but information is typically processed, organized, or contextualized data/facts.

Aspect	Fact	Information
Definition	A specific, verifiable, and objective datum or reality.	Processed, organized, or structured data/facts that convey context and meaning.
Context	Lacks inherent context on its own.	Provides context and answers "who, what, where, and when."
Relationship	Raw building blocks; a single verifiable data point.	A meaningful collection and presentation of facts.

Examples

Category	Fact (Raw Data)	Information (Contextualized Facts)
Measurement	37.5 (A number)	The patient's temperature is $37.5^{\circ }\text{C}$, which is normal. (Fact + context)
Sales	1,000 units (A number)	Sales increased by 1,000 units in the second quarter due to the new marketing campaign. (Fact + context + analysis)
Location	40.7128∘N,74.0060∘W(Raw coordinates)	The accident occurred in New York City at the intersection of two major streets. (Facts + meaning)