Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

GrandStudio t1_jc7i2w6 wrote

Forget the careful dissections of the meanings of truth, logic, axiom and foundation.

The reality is that truth is contingent and is a construct that we impose on reality that is "yet-to-be-known" and may be unknowable.

Certainly axioms and logic lead us to constructs that are useful and accurate descriptions of reality, but there is plenty of room for disagreement on even those constructs, never mind how what we "know" may change in the future.

On this PI day (3-14) I am contemplating how "pi" may be our closest daily interaction with the
infinite. The idea that "pi" has been calculated to over a trillion
digits and that there are a trillion more out there, existing but
unknown, challenges our very idea of the meaning of existence and truth.

The "yet-to-be-known" -- whether digits of pi or the next elementary
particle or the communications systems between trees or the true nature
of the multiverse -- clearly exists "out there" waiting to be
comprehended by human conceptual consciousness.

Yet "pi" reminds us that however detailed and accurate our view, there is always more to
discover. Human concepts are a construct that we impose on an
underlying reality that may not be fully reducible to definitions and
measurements -- an analog reality rendered by digital tools. Like a
digital picture, no matter how fine grained the pixels, there's still
those damned spaces.

0

quiettown999 t1_jdx5w0j wrote

I love this comment!

Human perception is the limiting factor for defining truth.

No reason we can't explore the 'yet-to-be-known', assume it's identity, or make explorations on that assumption.

In the end, the discussion about truth will still be limited by the parties having the discussion, and what they agree upon as 'reality' or 'truth'.

2

GrandStudio t1_je0vqmq wrote

Gosh, thanks.

Totally agree. I like to think about the discussion of truth as a process that we engage in together.

1