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Can we know the truth?
Yes, the truth is simple to find 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Yes, with a lot of effort 22%  22%  [ 4 ]
No, the truth is impossible to find due to limitations on data acquisition & processing 28%  28%  [ 5 ]
No, the truth is impossible to find out because the data required is beyond knowing 22%  22%  [ 4 ]
There is no truth 17%  17%  [ 3 ]
What I think *is* the truth 11%  11%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 18

Fnord
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06 Jun 2008, 12:57 am

Pixel8 wrote:
I'm a Taoist and we believe ...

So like any other, you know that what a person believes can not be the The Truth, due to Maya, which is delusion. For The Truth is not belief, and belief is not The Truth, for doubt is implicit within the acknowledgement of belief. Regardless, your material senses are inadequate for perceiving the immaterial nature of The Truth, which presents as a mere glimpse of the reflection of the shadow of a cloud to your material senses.

Thus, while The Truth shall always remain constant, your vision of The Truth will last for only the most fleeting of moments, and your understanding of The Truth will be flawed.

The Truth remains The Truth, no matter what you choose to believe or disbelieve, and The Truth does not require belief to exist, for The Truth exists outside of belief. The Truth merely is, and this is the nature of The Truth.

May you find blessings in sorrow, and clarity in the storm.


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Speckles
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06 Jun 2008, 1:16 am

Awesomelyglorious wrote:
Orwell wrote:
Yeah, I know, and in an intro course it should be fine, but I really was looking forward to having my entire college education consist of biology, chemistry, and mathematics. There's a reason I took EVERY AP test offered in the humanities, I didn't want to deal with it in college. If it's more logic based though, that could go well with the discrete math course I want to take...

Well, the humanities aren't THAT bad, and I doubt your philosophy professor will be terrible. I mean, most non-artsy things try to be somewhat clear. Some are better or worse than others. Discrete math and philosophy go together quite well given that a lot of philosophy is actually logical proof.


A good compromise is symbolic logic if you can find it. That branch of philosophy practically is math - it even has theorums.

Link



Sand
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06 Jun 2008, 1:21 am

We each view the universe with minds developed for survival in an environment restricted to this very small insignificant planet with severe limits. With modern instrumentation we can channel data normally unavailable to our limited senses into forms we can perceive. That we have just very recently discovered that the bulk of energy and matter in the universe has been previously unperceived is a clear indication that there is a good probability that much more is unknown and therefore cannot be integrated into what we know. To speak of truth as an absolute to be totally knowable under these conditions of fragmentary perception and even more fragmentary integration of knowledge into understanding is hubris of the highest order. We have found much that is useful and we are continuously discovering more. I find that satisfactory.



The_Chosen_One
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06 Jun 2008, 1:56 am

Each one of us lives in a house in a city, which is in a bigger country, which is in a continent, which is in an area of the Earth, which is in a solar system of at least 8 planets, which is in a spiral arm of a galaxy known as the Milky Way, which is one of many billions if not trillions of galaxies in the Entire Universe. Now, open your minds to the view of the whole Universe looking in at you, and you will realise the truth then - for how inconsequential we all are in the great scheme of things, for however big the Universe is, it can never be pictured or imagined without causing our brains to implode.


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catspurr
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06 Jun 2008, 2:16 am

There is no truth. Only conspiracies. ;)



Sand
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06 Jun 2008, 2:20 am

Even paranoids have enemies but that's no reason to carry things to extremes.



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06 Jun 2008, 2:20 am

in short, no.

We are but biological creatures with biological perceptions, how could we ever know the truth?



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06 Jun 2008, 2:50 am

Or, imagine a black rose in a field of red roses. Now keep your eyes on the rose as you zoom 10,000,000.000 light years away, while the field is growing exponentially. Now zoom back in as quickly as you zoomed out. Has your head imploded yet?


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Jainaday
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06 Jun 2008, 6:08 am

What do you mean by "know" ?


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Awesomelyglorious
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06 Jun 2008, 7:25 am

Jainaday wrote:
What do you mean by "know" ?

I mean whatever you want it to mean. Knowing can be synonymous with believing, it can be synonymous with having proof of, or it can even be an impossibility. I want people to put down what they think is true rather than analyze it, because if I gave you an answer to your question, then I stop being able to figure out what you believe, and I start seeing what you are capable of analyzing.



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06 Jun 2008, 7:29 am

Nexus wrote:
There is no absolute truth, because in infinity, all so-called truths in this universe are ultimately paradoxes in the limitless probabilities, of something that is a inconceivable intangible paradoxical chaos in itself.


This makews no sense at all. Restate w/ simpler language?



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06 Jun 2008, 7:35 am

slowmutant wrote:
Nexus wrote:
There is no absolute truth, because in infinity, all so-called truths in this universe are ultimately paradoxes in the limitless probabilities, of something that is a inconceivable intangible paradoxical chaos in itself.


This makews no sense at all. Restate w/ simpler language?


Basically, in a infinity sense, no absolute truth can exist, because infinity allows for all possibilities. Due to this, a truth in one universal aspect will be false in another. Therefore to say absolute truth of anything, it would always imply a paradox and/or contradiction in a infinite scope, and thus it can't be absolutely true.


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Last edited by Nexus on 06 Jun 2008, 7:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

slowmutant
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06 Jun 2008, 7:40 am

Confused-Fish wrote:
in short, no.

We are but biological creatures with biological perceptions, how could we ever know the truth?


Many have glimpsed the Truth. Many have known it. Our minds allow us to know the Truth. The brain is the biological tether of mind, and mind the antenna to Mind.



The_Chosen_One
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06 Jun 2008, 7:48 am

See above rose analogy.


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slowmutant
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06 Jun 2008, 9:21 am

greenblue wrote:
No, the truth is impossible to find due to limitations on data acquisition & processing
No, the truth is impossible to find out because the data required is beyond knowing


Finding the Truth requires insight. Insight requires going beyond thoughts and thinking, beyond logic and calculation. Machines can't do this becsause they are just machines. The human mind is able to find insight because it can detach itself from logic and escape the limitations of perception. Einstein's level of insight would not have been come to him had he not had such a strong imagination. Same with DaVinci.