Ask the Box

19 jun 06

"Is there anything that you don't know?"

there is nothing about which i won't at least make something up.

i'm starting to accumulate a backlog of questions; i need to get my rear in gear.

i know nothing. knowledge isn't possible. even axioms are unprovable, except by other axioms in whole other systems of understanding. even if i were to deductively prove that the sun is going to rise tomorrow, i would have to start somewhere in my proof. and this place from which i started my argument would be unprovable. so, at least in the philosophical sense, knowledge isn't possible -- it's a meaningless thing.

but i'm being annoying -- i know what you mean. yeah...for instance, i had to do quite a bit of research before and while i did that riemann sum question. and, also, i didn't do a real proof -- i did a facetious proof by induction, but one that i think is ok anyway, and also that makes a point. but i didn't do it the way it was supposed to be done.

let me put it this way: there's no question you can ask to which i will not respond -- i can babble about any topic to a degree, as anyone can. some questions are impossible to "get wrong," like:

"what do you think about websites like meathenge?"

"i think they are ok."

"NO, YOU'RE WRONG -- YOU DON'T REALLY THINK THAT, BUT HAVE ONLY CONVINCED YOURSELF THAT YOU THINK THAT, FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS. "

ok, so it's possible even to get that question wrong, but at least it's less likely, unless one is clearly dellusional (thinks he can fly, etc).

most aren't willing to babble about anything, perhaps because they have lives. but, i'm never going to give you a totally conclusive answer, because, as i said, these just don't work out. but some answers are going to be more satisfactory than others.

there are many things i don't know -- i don't know the circumference of the earth, but i will in a few seconds: 24,900 miles. and even now, i just know that i saw that figure in about five identical web references from reliable sites. do i "know" how to axiomatically, deductively prove the riemann sum hypothesis? nope. i do know how to do it, generally: you show that in every instance, a complex number yielding a nontrivial zero of the function will have a real part of one-half via deduction from axiom -- you prove it mathematically, beyond any doubt more fundamental than axiomatic uncertainty, that every real part is 1/2. you don't do it by induction, but rather, deduction. see, i "know" how to do it, but i just "can't" do it. i can't even do a geometric proof, the kind i was supposed to learn how to do in 10th grade. i could probably figure it out in a bit, but i don't feel like it; i have to get these questions done before people think i'm a slacker.

there are many questions to which i can't produce a conclusive, simple answer, but there are no questions based on which i can't illuminate a little bit, for myself, at least, and probably for some others. this is true of anyone -- i'm not the overmind.

there's also a lot of things i'd have to look up, but those are sort of trivial. there are many things i cannot do, mentally, such as socially interact with a large group of people for more than a few hours. i cannot prove the riemann hypothesis. furthermore, understanding how to do things like this might be beyond my capacity.

i don't know that the world isn't 5,000 years old -- i wasn't around 5,000 years ago. there is in my opinion better evidence for it being 4.5 billion years old, but i don't know this -- just like i don't know the sun will rise tomorrow, or that the thing that appears to be a "lemonade can" is really a "lemonade can" (maybe my optic nerve has been posessed by 5,000 year old demons).

we can alter our definition to fit conventional meaning: 'to know x' = 'to be pretty darned sure about x'. i'm pretty darned sure the sun will rise tomorrow. i'm pretty sure i know where my keyboard is, and i'll tell someone "i know where it is!" with confidence. i'm far, far less than "pretty darned sure," or 50% sure, if you prefer, about many, many things -- like the question: do you only truly experience pleasure after experiencing pain? how can i be quite sure about that, let alone positively sure? it's an opinion. maybe it's an educated opinion, or a thought-out opinion, but it's an opinion, just like anything. there are complex facts, or facts that i can't find a reliable answer for, that i don't know. for instance, i don't know the average size of a brood of baby groundsloths born in march, and i'd be hard pressed (unwilling, unable) to research this for you.

i have no knowledge, only opinions. i don't know the answer to any of the questions i'm asked here -- all i can do is provide a little essay that's hopefully fun to read.