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I disagree. If you know that something is true, but can't really prove that it is true, you can still use the assumed truth to guide you. For example, I believe
by DougWebb 17y ago
I disagree. If you know that something is true, but can't really prove that it is true, you can still use the assumed truth to guide you. For example, I believe that Barak Obama is an honorable man. I can't prove it, but I believe it strongly enough to use that 'truth' to guide my voting decision.
I'm playing with the definition of 'useful' here, using a much less rigorous meaning than you probably intended. But even scientific frameworks start with axioms that are unprovable but accepted as true. Those are useful truths which the rest of the framework is built upon.
- dmm 17y agoHonor is falsifiable, to the degree is can be defined. An honorable person acts differently that a dishonorable one. Just because I say something is falsifiable doesn't mean I'm asserting I can prove it. It just means that it is meaningful to prove it. For example, I cannot prove that everyone in china is right handed, but that is certainly a falsifiable idea. One could go to china and ask each person: impossible, but meaningful. An example of an idea that is not falsifiable is that my garage is inhabited by undetectable dragons. What use is this idea? What use is it to speak of things which cannot in any way be detected?
- sofal 17y agoThe repercussions of the unfalsifiable idea can be useful and falsifiable to a degree. They aren't always negative, either. For example, "I feel safer and sleep better at night because I believe my garage is inhabited by undetectable dragons."