 Suppose we are interested in what is the number of planets in the solar system. With the demotion of Pluto to planetoid status, the truth of this matter is that there are precisely 8 planets. Now, the proposition the number of planets in our solar system is 9 may be false, but quite a bit closer to the truth than the proposition that the number of planets in our solar system is 9 billion. (One falsehood may be closer to the truth than another falsehood.) The true proposition the number of the planets is between 7 and 9 inclusive is closer to the truth than the true proposition that the number of the planets is greater than or equal to 0. (So a truth may be closer to the truth than another truth.) Finally, the proposition that the number of the planets is either less than or greater than 9 may be true but it is arguably not as close to the whole truth as its highly accurate but strictly false negation: that there are 9 planets.