I was playing around on the web and I rediscovered Stephen Colbert's use of the word 'truthiness.' He used the term in his pilot for the 'Stephen Colbert Report' that airs on the Comedy Channel. He used the concept to mean the truth we want, in our gut, to exist, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. I'm not sure if this helps you, Tessa, answering your life's questions but it is pretty funny (and kind of scary).

Stephen Colbert on Truthiness

Wikipedia on Truthiness