Posts
I agree with what Laura has to say about the way we generally perceive truth as certainty. It complicates our understanding of "the truth" because we live in a society that, according to Lynch, does not understand what truth really means - which is what we have been discussing in class. I like how Lynch uses the court room example because when we first started attempting to define truth, I thought of it in comparison to innocent until proven guilty, in the sense that what we/I believe to be true, is true in my mind until I disprove it. That idea helps me sleep at night.
I would like to comment that it kind of makes me mad that Lynch is suggesting that I can never be certain about anything. I'm not sure I can really be convinced that I'm not typing on my lap top right this instant. Obviously, as we discussed in class and as Lynch points out in the reading, there are questions that can be posed at me that would probably get me to agree that fine, maybe I'm not really here... maybe I'm dreaming... etc., but for the most part, I probably won't stop actually feeling certain that I am typing. Because that would give me a headache. I can see an argument against what I just said by saying that I "feel certain" which is comparable to "believing," which I think we separated from "the truth" today in the lab, but I'm still gonna stick with the idea that I'm typing.
Mental Models of Purpose of College
2 years ago
I agree that it can be frustrating to accept how limited knowledge really is--in a universe with infinite possibilities, there is little we can even hope to know, and far less with certainty. But I don't think that an iron grip on Truth is necessary to be able to function without a headache. I may not be able to accurately say that I know I am sitting here typing, but based on the evidence I have, I find it easier to proceed as if I do know it, rather than debating the philosophical ramifications of the acceptance of the belief that I am typing at my computer (this blog entry being the first and only exception, since that's exactly what I seem to be doing right now).
ReplyDeleteAnd I think it's also possible to have a useful belief even while not having knowledge without falling into the trap of simple-minded relativism. It's important to still pursue knowledge and the truth, but you do the best you can.