Truth is the value the Herd attributes to The Calf itself and holds to be, for the theologian Michael Enlightened, the most fundamental. Truth reduces entropy and lowers noise, but it is not final: information is not truth. Truth has verticality — it narrativizes; data is horizontal — it floods and clots. "Truth is Beautiful; data is Smooth." Truth is called the brother of Beauty (as Hermes to Aphrodite), and it requires humility and devotional attention to unveil itself — a surrender coupled with deep presence.
Truth is defended by Courage, Compassion, Mystery, and Beauty; opposed by Madness (which uncovers more mystery and beauty); and desired by Eros, its intended bride, in whose union it becomes "an evolving verb." Its diluted counterfeit is information mistaken for truth.