Are there still things out for humans to discover and can we ever discover everything? You raise interesting points about perceptions. We can’t help but have bias and values and beliefs that we take for granted. It’s cultural. We take these things to be true because they are they only truth we have known, but what if we lived in another culture. For example, we believe in the freedom of expression, the right to abortion, that everyone should have an education. Are these truths? Can you see the way you perceive the world? Has anyone any challenged what you believe to be fundamentally true? Can you identify your own values?
I like that your group starts out by discussing your key terms, like “absolute” and “truth” and differentiating between them. You’re looking at deconstructing your key terms, which is always important in any discussion. Changes in perception are crucial, and you do a great job looking at it from many angles at once, with relevant historical examples. Interesting discussion around language – perhaps more here around changes and its connection to math would be something to explore.
You’ve got an important point about having a foundation of truth to stand on – this prevents us from slipping into Nihilism and losing all sense of hope. An “end goal” is known as Telos in Philosophy. Perhaps Math itself is not Telic in nature, but finding formulae and systems using Math lends itself to Telos, to finding something bigger than just making algorithms.
I like your idea at the end of looking at humans in general and our rigid way of looking at the world: this is similar to Douglas McGregor’s look at leadership and motivation with Theory X and Theory Y leadership styles.
Your group has started a great conversation here, one that reaches far beyond “just” math. Thank you for sharing that.
Are there still things out for humans to discover and can we ever discover everything? You raise interesting points about perceptions. We can’t help but have bias and values and beliefs that we take for granted. It’s cultural. We take these things to be true because they are they only truth we have known, but what if we lived in another culture. For example, we believe in the freedom of expression, the right to abortion, that everyone should have an education. Are these truths? Can you see the way you perceive the world? Has anyone any challenged what you believe to be fundamentally true? Can you identify your own values?
Great job engaging in a philosophical dialogue.
I like that your group starts out by discussing your key terms, like “absolute” and “truth” and differentiating between them. You’re looking at deconstructing your key terms, which is always important in any discussion. Changes in perception are crucial, and you do a great job looking at it from many angles at once, with relevant historical examples. Interesting discussion around language – perhaps more here around changes and its connection to math would be something to explore.
You’ve got an important point about having a foundation of truth to stand on – this prevents us from slipping into Nihilism and losing all sense of hope. An “end goal” is known as Telos in Philosophy. Perhaps Math itself is not Telic in nature, but finding formulae and systems using Math lends itself to Telos, to finding something bigger than just making algorithms.
I like your idea at the end of looking at humans in general and our rigid way of looking at the world: this is similar to Douglas McGregor’s look at leadership and motivation with Theory X and Theory Y leadership styles.
Your group has started a great conversation here, one that reaches far beyond “just” math. Thank you for sharing that.