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RE: 2 Thought Experiments to Forever change the way you Look at the World + Philosophy Discussion

in #philosophy7 years ago

Interesting stuff. Nice take on the classic 'inverted spectrum' thought experiments.
I think the critique of deduction and the syllogism could be clearer though. It's not induction in one sense - if Socrates is a man, and if all men are mortal, then it must be true that Socrates is mortal.

But once you put all those 'ifs' in there, it starts to look less useful. And you are right to question things that are true by definition. For example, triangles having internal angles adding up to 180 degrees - true by definition, right? And true everywhere, right? Well not exactly. If space isn't flat, as it's assumed in euclidean geometry, then maybe triangles don't have to have that quality.

Worse, definitions of words are made up of words - and these words require definitions. Where does that chain of definition end? That's a conversation for another day.

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In the case of the triangle, The triangle is a concept. There are no triangles in the observable physical universe. A triangle is a 2D object. 2D cannot exist in a 3D world. If there is a "Triangle" that doesn't have its internal angles adding up to 180 degrees, then it's not a 2D object.

Where does that chain of definition end?

It doesn't end. It's not even just linear progression. It'll be both a web and something that's like a web. Word's should be used like the way a person use a raft to cross a river. You use it and you leave it. It's like cryptocurrency. The value lies in the function it serve. No need to cling to words beyond the use of communication.

Thanks for stopping by to comment.

It doesn't end.

LOL, I wrote my PhD thesis on that - and actually came to a similar conclusion. The language/crypto parallel is't lost on me either.