Virtues and ethics.
looking at variations of culture and beliefs, is there a higher moral commonality then truth?
Unfortunately, I do not think truth is all that highly valued in many cultures. Or rather, it is not as highly valued as I think it should be. I think power is most highly valued in most cultures, and people seldom become powerful by being honest. I think the competition for power (and money) actually holds cultural progress, as far as the value of truth goes, badk.
truth/fact is definitely not valued as highly as it needs to be. hard facts are our only common ground, when we have idiots refuting clear facts and saying things like the earth is flat, we meet the kind of immovable boundaries that lead to wars.