Worked on taxes this week...wrote the checks to the federal and state treasuries yesterday...mailed it all today. I need a vacation. Unfortunately once those checks clear I won't be able to afford one. I'm settling for a good book and possibly a nap.
Naps are good. Not two-week cruise good, but at least I don't have to worry about finding someone to take care of the cats during it.
Posted by marybeth at April 15, 2005 02:40 PM Other StuffInformation is an overlapping subset of wisdom, as wisdom is a subset of knowledge, and truth overlaps wisdom. Even the absolute nature of a given truths may exist but for a moment before passing into the realm of untruths, adding to the sum of wisdom and knowledge while subtracting from the sum of truth.
Logic flaws...restating the definition as fact and equating "not equivilent to" statement as arguments of complete negation.
Information not knowledge, knowledge not wisdom, wisdom not truth does not prohibit information from being truth. Taking the negative form of "if a=b and b=c, then a=c) falsly implies that a is not c. Not a logical argument, for a may be c.
"Truth must be absolute; otherwise it is merely opinion," does make an interesting statement on your definition of truth. From this one could imply you hold the idea that a falling tree makes a sound in the forest in the absence of one to hear. Very literal interpretation of reality. It does set up a definition of reality for an insuing (and missing) logical argument. Simply sharing a common word with the prior string of words does not make this a conclusion.
Posted by franklindalethomas at April 16, 2005 02:22 PMThe quotation isn't original with me. I should have included quotation marks or an "anonymous" attribution. My main reason for choosing to use it was because I wanted something a bit more serious sounding than - "I like cats too...want to trade recipes?"
I didn't analyze the quotation before deciding to use it but I do think that truth is not relative. People may have different interpretations of the truth based on their experiences but these are only their interpretations/opinions, not truth itself. (I think of truth as digital while peoples' views of truth are analog.)
A tree falling will make a sound unless it falls in a vacuum. It seems rather egotistical to think that the rules of physics cease to exist if you aren't a witness to an event.
Posted by marybeth at April 16, 2005 06:29 PMThanks for responding. Not a personal attack (you appear to be on the side of good). Just following through with the intention of the quote (as originally written)…promote thought. This is an exploration for me, also. Sorry it has taken me so long, but this is coffee-break stuff.
The irony here is that the statement, overall, is intended to wax philosophical while adhering to none of the rules. Even the last sentence, “Truth must be absolute; otherwise it is merely opinion,” implies the false conclusion that all which is not absolute truth is opinion. In reality, we could say of the universe of logical sets that there is “truth” and “non-truth” (which cannot overlap by nature), “opinion” (which could overlap into both sets), and “other” (which is yet to be defined). It attempts to define truth in less than true terms.
Aristotle set up the groundwork for testing truths over 2000 years ago. In this discipline, truth is absolute, but to be relevant it must be provable. “If a tree falls…” is really a restatement of René Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am.” Although the great philosophers, up through Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and most lately, Jacques Derrida often claim to be at odds, all maintain this element in their text. Extrapolates of the later version suggest that truth has a temporal and spatial relevance. This even carries over into other disciplines, such as Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle of physics, in which the measurement (observer) must change the outcome (reality). This leaves us, the searches of truth, blessed (or cursed) by the necessity of continually re-evaluating our universe.
And now, staying true to Derrida and deconstruction theory, the definition of truth has changed slightly for both of us.
By the way, I like cats, too!
Franklin Dale Thomas
I must clock out soon. Taking that seven day vacation, not on a cruise but to do some part-time farming. Reflection begins now, discussions in 8 or 9 days.
Posted by franklin dale thomas at April 17, 2005 03:50 PMObserving an event may alter it but that doesn't mean physical laws are suspended.
Posted by marybeth at April 18, 2005 03:05 PMReality is truth.
We are observers and are undeniably a part of reality. To propose removing the observation from the reality does not represent truth but rather conjecture.