I read the article on page 174-175 by Leo M. Chalupa. This article is about three of the authors beliefs: that the human brain is the most complex entity in the
known universe, that we will eventually succeed in discovering all there is to discover about the world if we live long enough, and that science provides the best means of understanding the world. I will address each of these claims separately. The first statement would be fairly easy to disprove, but is very hard to prove. To prove this false, all that is necessary is finding an object in the universe more complicated than our brain. To prove it true, it would be necessary to observe every object in the universe. The second statement is provably false. Given the uncertainties inherent in logic itself, it is impossible to have a complete understanding of the world. The third part of this statement is the only one that is truly unprovable. I agree that, of the methods we have found, there appears that science is the best for finding the truth, but there very well may be a better one out there.
known universe, that we will eventually succeed in discovering all there is to discover about the world if we live long enough, and that science provides the best means of understanding the world. I will address each of these claims separately. The first statement would be fairly easy to disprove, but is very hard to prove. To prove this false, all that is necessary is finding an object in the universe more complicated than our brain. To prove it true, it would be necessary to observe every object in the universe. The second statement is provably false. Given the uncertainties inherent in logic itself, it is impossible to have a complete understanding of the world. The third part of this statement is the only one that is truly unprovable. I agree that, of the methods we have found, there appears that science is the best for finding the truth, but there very well may be a better one out there.
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| xkcd comic by Randal Monroe |
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The brain, cannot function alone, so I think that it can't be the most complex entity in the universe. Maybe if the statement was humans are the most complex entity in the universe it would be more agreeable. But either way like you said, its extremely difficult to disprove. Do you think that the human brain is the most complicated things in the universe?
ReplyDeleteThe thought of knowing everything there is to know about the world seems like more of and opinion than anything else. There is really no way to prove that this is possible or impossible. There is no possible way to test to see if someone knew everything about the world.
Saying that science provides the best means of understanding isn't really a fact that can be proved or disproved. Possibly science is the best mean of understanding? Until we have found every mean of understanding, there is no way we can prove that science is the best.
Can you talk more about "the uncertainties inherent in logic" for the second belief? I do agree that we can't discover everything about the world, but I would say that it's because there is no limit to scientific discovery.
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