Right! "truth is what justifies our experience and motivates us to action" in other words, truth defines our course of decisions, thus our actions - which stems from decisions.

Truth being at the core, it therefore must always be sought after, or else decisions will have come from that which is not the truth, which means wrong actions will be taken.

"That's why I have been curious to know if there are optimal precepts of reason that can be applied universally."

Truth can only be realized.

E.g. truth is like a man dancing to music which another deaf man cannot hear. Only until the deaf man hears the music, that he also understands and begins dancing - Having realized the truth, thus truth can only be realized. When truth has been universally realized, everyone will be hearing and dancing to the music, prior to that, some (those who can hear the music) will be dancing, while the deaf will not. It's the job of those who are hearing to help those who are not hearing the music, to hear. On the flip side, those who are not hearing the music and believe that there is no music, will be trying to get those who are dancing to not dance, coz the deaf can't hear the music, and don't understand the dancing, which might be irritating the deaf. So, until the truth is universally realized, there will always be a battle between truth and error.