Re: more science v religion
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2022 4:35 pm
[quote=Pattern-chaser post_id=594937 time=1662562858 user_id=22925]
[quote=Age post_id=594905 time=1662555895 user_id=16237]
Also, and by the way, 'the Truth' IS IRREFUTABLE, whereas 'the truth' can be REFUTED on MANY occasions.
[/quote]
[quote=Advocate post_id=594930 time=1662561113 user_id=15238]
A person lives in the forest and every time a particular squirrel squeaks, a tree falls a few seconds later. That person is justified to believe the squirrel causes the tree falling and that belief is necessary and sufficient for everything they're doing, because they don't have the additional evidence that correlation is not causation and they don't have knowledge that a squirrel can't cut down trees. When you add information, of course they're wrong. Inside the scenario given, no could say so and their belief is as close to certain as possible, therefore is truth.
[/quote]
Their belief is nowhere close to [i]certain[/i]. It [u]is[/u] as close to certainty as possible, but it's misleading to phrase it that way, when the belief you describe falls so very far short of [i]certainty[/i]. Yes, it's the best we can do, so we use it as the 'truth', but we know it's a guess.
But is it actually [color=#0000BF]misleading[/color] to describe our best guess as "truth"? I'm not sure...
[/quote]
Based on the best available evidence, however scanty, is always the polar opposite of a guess.
Certainty is relative to purpose. The woods-person doesn't have need of that level of causality, so certain "for all intents and purposes" is in the context of their life, not other unrelated lives. Knowledge can only be judged in relation to Available evidence, and that's bound to the scope of a given use-case.
[quote=Age post_id=594905 time=1662555895 user_id=16237]
Also, and by the way, 'the Truth' IS IRREFUTABLE, whereas 'the truth' can be REFUTED on MANY occasions.
[/quote]
[quote=Advocate post_id=594930 time=1662561113 user_id=15238]
A person lives in the forest and every time a particular squirrel squeaks, a tree falls a few seconds later. That person is justified to believe the squirrel causes the tree falling and that belief is necessary and sufficient for everything they're doing, because they don't have the additional evidence that correlation is not causation and they don't have knowledge that a squirrel can't cut down trees. When you add information, of course they're wrong. Inside the scenario given, no could say so and their belief is as close to certain as possible, therefore is truth.
[/quote]
Their belief is nowhere close to [i]certain[/i]. It [u]is[/u] as close to certainty as possible, but it's misleading to phrase it that way, when the belief you describe falls so very far short of [i]certainty[/i]. Yes, it's the best we can do, so we use it as the 'truth', but we know it's a guess.
But is it actually [color=#0000BF]misleading[/color] to describe our best guess as "truth"? I'm not sure...
[/quote]
Based on the best available evidence, however scanty, is always the polar opposite of a guess.
Certainty is relative to purpose. The woods-person doesn't have need of that level of causality, so certain "for all intents and purposes" is in the context of their life, not other unrelated lives. Knowledge can only be judged in relation to Available evidence, and that's bound to the scope of a given use-case.