Numbers have long fascinated the human mind. They are essential to our lives and practically universal – children across the globe grasp mathematical concepts at a young age. But as important as they are, few people sit down and ask: what is a number?
Category: Metaphysics
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On the Mind’s Access to Objective Truth
“You can never know objective truth, because you’re stuck inside your own mind.”
I’ve heard this argument many times. Supposedly, we cannot know anything about the world because we cannot “get outside our own minds” to verify whether our claims are true. The argument goes, “we live in a subjective mental bubble, and we’re restricted from ever knowing what lies outside the bubble.”
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Colors, Continuums, and Confusion
The continuum is a formidable opponent. Just when we think an issue is black and white, the continuum turns everything into a shade of grey. What is a continuum? Simple: it’s the boundary between red and pink.
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Defending Zeno’s Paradox
Paradoxes don’t exist. But they can teach us something about our ideas. Whenever we discover a contradiction in our beliefs, we’re forced to make revisions. Paradoxes can help us elicit nestled contradictions in our worldview that we wouldn’t see otherwise.
Some of the most famous and oldest paradoxes in the world are Zeno’s paradoxes. He came up with several, but I just want to focus on the most famous one.
And defend it.
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All is One: The Logical Case for Mysticism
Rationality and mysticism are often seen as opposites. Rationalists use logic and Reason to make sense of the world, while mystics claim to transcend Reason by directly experiencing the “oneness of the universe”. Then, when asked to defend their position, mystics will claim that language is too limited and cannot convey the truths that they understand. Rationalists are left scratching their heads, unsatisfied and unpersuaded.
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Everything is Grounded in Logic
To become a philosopher, you only need to ask one question: “Why?”
When you receive an answer, ask the question again; you’ll quickly get into some deep, abstract ideas. And you’ll quickly annoy whomever you’re talking with.