What is truth?
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From: Bill Penrose on 16 Apr 2010 23:33 On Apr 16, 4:18 am, troll <trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: > Gradually, I have started getting the idea that goodness > has no real meaning at all. Immanuel Kant came up with a practical definition of good and evil that makes sense. Look it up. > Recently, however, I have started to wonder whether > truth has any real meaning. Truth is an abstraction which we can approach asymptotically, but even if we find it, we can never be certain. You can go insane searching for it. As an Arab philosopher once said, "Follow the man who seeks the truth, but run from him who says he has found it." It's not simple and you're not missing anything. People far more intelligent than you and I have puzzled over these concepts for centuries. DB
From: Mark Thorson on 17 Apr 2010 14:09 Dirk Bruere at NeoPax wrote: > > On 16/04/2010 13:41, Ludovicus wrote: > > On Apr 16, 7:18 am, troll<trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: > >> What is truth? > > > > If Christ was unable to answer when > > Pilate questioned him, how you dare > > to inquire that? > > JC wasn't all that bright. He wasn't any L. Ron Hubbard, that's for sure.
From: Matt on 19 Apr 2010 01:11 On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:41:29 -0700 (PDT), Ludovicus wrote: >On Apr 16, 7:18�am, troll <trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: >>What is truth? > >If Christ was unable to answer when >Pilate questioned him, how you dare >to inquire that? Pilate was a politician asking a cynical, rhetorical question. To a politician, that which is expedient may be "truth." Christ answered the question before: John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
From: Igor on 19 Apr 2010 10:44 On Apr 16, 3:09 pm, troll <trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: > On Apr 16, 10:28 am, Igor <thoov...(a)excite.com> wrote: > > > > > > > On Apr 16, 7:18 am, troll <trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: > > > > Gradually, I have started getting the idea that goodness > > > has no real meaning at all. Entropy and information > > > has a clear definition in physics and mathematics, but > > > goodness is just a nice sounding word and no one > > > can ever agree on what it actually means. > > > > Recently, however, I have started to wonder whether > > > truth has any real meaning. Is there a mathematical > > > or physical definition of truth, and if so what is it? > > > > I get the idea that I am missing something simple, > > > but I am not sure what it is. What is the definition > > > of truth in physics and mathematics? At least a > > > very simple web search ends up getting choked > > > with meaningless drivel from philosophers. > > > Concepts of truth in mathematics and physics differ. In math, > > basically anything that is internally consistent can be said to be > > true. > > So in mathematics, as long as both sides of an equation reduces to > equivalent terms, this is said to be true? What is meant by the words > internally consistent? Without contradiction. All the axioms and postulates that you start with must not be not be in conflict. Or it will spell trouble further down the road.
From: Dirk Bruere at NeoPax on 19 Apr 2010 10:49
On 19/04/2010 15:44, Igor wrote: > On Apr 16, 3:09 pm, troll<trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: >> On Apr 16, 10:28 am, Igor<thoov...(a)excite.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >>> On Apr 16, 7:18 am, troll<trolid...(a)go.com> wrote: >> >>>> Gradually, I have started getting the idea that goodness >>>> has no real meaning at all. Entropy and information >>>> has a clear definition in physics and mathematics, but >>>> goodness is just a nice sounding word and no one >>>> can ever agree on what it actually means. >> >>>> Recently, however, I have started to wonder whether >>>> truth has any real meaning. Is there a mathematical >>>> or physical definition of truth, and if so what is it? >> >>>> I get the idea that I am missing something simple, >>>> but I am not sure what it is. What is the definition >>>> of truth in physics and mathematics? At least a >>>> very simple web search ends up getting choked >>>> with meaningless drivel from philosophers. >> >>> Concepts of truth in mathematics and physics differ. In math, >>> basically anything that is internally consistent can be said to be >>> true. >> >> So in mathematics, as long as both sides of an equation reduces to >> equivalent terms, this is said to be true? What is meant by the words >> internally consistent? > > Without contradiction. All the axioms and postulates that you start > with must not be not be in conflict. Or it will spell trouble further > down the road. I thought trouble was spelled "Godel" -- Dirk http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onetribe - Occult Talk Show |