tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post1390308070098307437..comments2024-03-27T06:56:10.255+00:00Comments on Broad Oak Magazine: A few theological thoughtsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-32043043623474030162014-12-27T11:05:56.367+00:002014-12-27T11:05:56.367+00:00parameters, parameters... its all about the parame...parameters, parameters... its all about the parameters.Wolfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05820269114208456064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-58498500564989967632014-12-26T14:38:58.830+00:002014-12-26T14:38:58.830+00:00Thank you for your comment and clarification, Mart...Thank you for your comment and clarification, Martian. <br /><br />However, as I understand it Gödel showed that any system capable of generating the natural order of numbers has this loophole. Since science works with mathematics, this tiny flaw is incorporated in some way.<br /><br />When we attempt to model the world we do want both completeness and consistency, and at a subatomic level at least we seem to struggle to achieve that. I'm not sure gravity's been sorted out theoretically, either. <br /><br />Russell said that he was a philosophical liberal, i.e. all our knowledge is provisional. So to be consistent, he also said that he was not, strictly speaking, an atheist but merely regarded the existence of God as improbable. I imagine he was considering an anthropomorphic concept of God in this respect; other concepts are possible.<br /><br />You say that it may be easy to see that a statement is true, yet the point of science is to proceed from what we think is true, to look at what our certainty is founded on. Until Russell and Whitehead's work showed that mathematics was a branch of logic, not even mathematics had an indisputably robust foundation. It seems that even after their work, we now know that there are twigs on the branch that we can never reach from the bough.<br /><br />The central point I was making is borne out, I hope you'll agree, by what both of us have said: we have to accept that there may be more truth than our systems can catch in their nets, and to be humble about the limitations of our knowledge.Sackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-35411791649534255342014-12-25T21:27:33.866+00:002014-12-25T21:27:33.866+00:00"Even in the purest of knowledge - mathematic..."Even in the purest of knowledge - mathematics - Kurt Gödel showed that there are assertions that even if true are unprovable and so there is no complete knowledge."<br /><br />Wrong. Firstly, Gödel's work was concerned only with formal systems, like Russel's and Whitehead's 'Principia'. Secondly, Gödel showed that such a system was <i>either</i> incomplete <i>or</i> inconsistent. Thirdly, even within a formal system, it may be easy to see that a statement is true even though it is unprovable <i>within that system.</i><br />Martianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18191071299824879404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-57412982344577841172014-12-25T11:44:31.675+00:002014-12-25T11:44:31.675+00:00Merry Christmas to you and yours, Nick!Merry Christmas to you and yours, Nick!Sackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-18560910272382093102014-12-25T11:25:57.385+00:002014-12-25T11:25:57.385+00:00wise words
best to all at Xmas,
and may the top...wise words<br /><br />best to all at Xmas, <br /><br />and may the top-most branches of the Christmas-Tree of the Hierarchy of Argument prevail in 2015!Nick Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670594203660051701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-25994562264756363952014-12-24T16:36:22.515+00:002014-12-24T16:36:22.515+00:00And a merry Christmas to you and yours also.And a merry Christmas to you and yours also.Sackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-16729190661651361572014-12-24T15:13:47.449+00:002014-12-24T15:13:47.449+00:00"Roll up your battle flags and show what you ..."Roll up your battle flags and show what you believe by how you are. That's quite daunting enough for me."<br /><br />Me too. Merry Christmas.A K Haarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.com