frako writes:
quote:
We all know assumptions are a bad way for determining that something is "true" or not true. But there are 3 basic assumptions that everyone assumes.
1. I exist
Well, no. That isn't an assumption I can make. It's known as "Cartesian Doubt." His Discourse in First Philosophy sought to derive it rather than assume it. It's where we get the phrase, "I think, therefore I am." The idea is that we just might be "plagued by demons," as he put it. In modern terms, we might say that we could be "brains in a vat" or "computer simulations" (think
The Matrix). So how can we tell that what we see around us, even our very selves, is actually real?
Well, suppose we aren't what we think we are. Even if we were plagued by these demons, they are plaguing
something. There is a consciousness that is being affected. The fact that I can think indicates that I exist somewhere in some form. Everything that I experience may be a simulation, but
I am experiencing them. "I think, therefore I am."
The problem with foundational assumptions is that nobody agrees on what they are.
Rrhain
Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time.
Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can use mine.
™ Version 4.2
