Saturday, July 21, 2018

Truth in Relativism

Truth is the golden mean of relativism.  Relativism is the idea that observations depend on one's reference point, whether it be cultural, positional, or linguistic, which we can't always agree on because of our background.  An observation-based language that eliminates Derridas' deconstruction theory would solve the problem of ambiguity that the constraint of parameters like language place on scientific perceptions.  Such a universal language would solve the problem of relativism in any field of science.

Different scientists interpret experimental phenomena in different ways, but they can't all be correct.  The only way to reconcile multiple interpretations of the same experiment is to measure the average perception on a spectrum of conclusions.  This average would be the apparent truth of any matter, unless the paradigm subjected to the measurement is so wrong that it requires a shift in general perspective, much the same way that Einstein's theory of relativity shifted physicist's notions about Newtonian gravity in the early 20th century.

Thomas Kuhn in his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions denies that a language exists for this golden mean, and he is correct.  One will need to be invented for us to come to terms on some of the major theoretical problems in science.  But even if we did, it would be a mistake to assume the golden mean is the entire truth.  We are limited by what we can sense.  Science is the futile quest to reveal what the senses we yearn to have would show us about the natural world.  

If truth is subjective, we must apply the golden mean to find universal truths.  If we can't find them using our own senses, we must find a way to borrow the hidden ones from animals.  Again, here the problem of language rears its ugly head; obviously if animals could talk, we could better understand their interpretations.  Since we can't, their perceptions don't matter.  The truth gets buried under a noncommunicable database of consciousness.  Futility remains, taunting science in ways that only religion and art would appreciate.

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