Hi Simon:
PLATT: (previously)
Well, I've never seen for myself from a space ship that the earth is
round instead of flat, but would you deny that the statement "the earth is
round, not flat" is absolutely true as opposed to maybe true, based on
the testimony of many trustworthy sources? (Note I didn't say
'absolutely round,' nor am I quibbling about just how round or how flat.)
>
SIMON:
Yes, I would deny it.
Is that an absolute denial? Or a provisional denial? I ask because the
way you put it, it sounds absolute to me.
SIMON:
The world was flat in the 14th century when spatial thinking was in
such matters limited to two dimensions.
Are you absolutely sure of that? Anyway, who’s talking about the 14th
century? As long as you are going back to the past, would you say the
world (round or otherwise) existed 3 million years ago before humans
saw that it exists? Now there’s a philosophical problem for you. (-:
SIMON:
Now it is round (by which I presume you mean spherical) in our 3/4
dimensional world. What further shapes will it turn out to be as our
knowledge of such things increases. It's true that the earth is spherical,
in the same way that it was true that the earth was flat; a relative truth. It
has the possibility of being an absolute truth, but it's only a possibility,
not an absolute certainty. sq changes under the constant pressure of
DQ.
Well, if the cosmologists are right, there won’t be any world in the
future, round, flat, square or otherwise. The sun will expand and fry us
all. Fortunately I absolutely don’t expect to be here when that happens.
PLATT:
I'm beginning to wonder if you're absolutely certain you exist.
SIMON:
Do I question my existence? Of course, that's perhaps the most
fundamental philosophical question, but in striving for an answer I am
absolutely certain that I exist. I don't know why, but of my existence I am
absolutely certain. That and just about nothing else. Why? Again I can't
say. I'm certain of a lot of things, but not absolutely certain. I guess I
just like to consider other possibilities and keep my mind open. Based
on the evidence, I'm almost certain that humans were born through
evolution, but I'll always consider the possibility of creationism. It's like
Pirsig's science, the number of hypotheses (possibilities) is infinite.
What a relief. (-: For awhile there I was debating whether I should
continue conversing with a non-existent entity. As for evolutionary
theory, there are lots of reason to doubt it, not the least of which the
absence of bones showing the development from one species to
another. (Gould has posited something he calls ‘punctuated
equilibrium” which at the bottom is just another ‘oops” cop out from a
loquacious scientist.)
PLATT:
My point is that absolute truth is the certainty behind your doubt of
absolute truth.
SIMON:
Perhaps you need to clarify this for me.
Above you state, “Again, I can’t say.” There is absolute certainty behind
that statement. Otherwise, your thoughts just keep spinning around in
circles. Like, “Well, I’m not absolutely certain there are no certainties,
which means I’m not absolutely certain that I’m not absolutely certain . .
. ad infinitum. Somewhere along the line you have to put your foot down
and say, “This I’m absolutely sure of,” even if it’s the certainty that you
can never be sure of anything.
Platt
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