The Six Forms of Truth: A Static Ontology of Cognition Under Energy Constraints

What is truth? And what are the entities we habitually call ``true'' but are not? Energy-Efficiency Theory (EET) provides a rigorous answer grounded in energy monism and the dual causality framework. This document establishes the six fundamental forms of truth accessible to finite cognitive agents, resolving persistent confusions in epistemology. There is only one Absolute Truth---the perfect mapping of real-space energy flow, an unreachable asymptote requiring infinite energy (). All other cognitive forms are Pseudo-Truth, models constructed under finite energy constraints. Pseudo-Truth divides into two branches based on the ultimate guarantor of validity: • Natural Pseudo-Truth: validity guaranteed by real-space energy exchange (observation, experiment). It includes Proper, Common, and Fallacious Pseudo Truth. • Rule-Based Cognition: validity guaranteed by internal consistency within a stipulated symbolic system. It includes Rule Truth (valid derivation) and Erroneous Rule (invalid derivation). This document provides rigorous definitions, operational criteria, and illustrative cases for each of the six forms. It explicitly addresses common category errors prohibited under EET Core Rules v4. 2---such as the conflation of mathematical truth with Absolute Truth, and the mistaken belief that models like geocentrism are ``rule-based'' merely because they employ geometry. The framework is static; dynamic transitions among these forms are governed by the Energy-Efficiency Spectrum. Keywords: Truth; Pseudo-Truth; Proper Pseudo-Truth; Common Pseudo-Truth; Fallacious Pseudo-Truth; Rule Truth; Erroneous Rule; Energy-Efficiency Theory; epistemology; dual causality