Great A'Tuin?
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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turtles all the way down
we know math, 1+1=2, 2+2=4
really hard if not impossible to convince people otherwise
once you've set the axioms of math, everything else follows
Math is not really "knowledge of the universe" though, it's just the symbols and syntax we use to help map it when we try to understand the universe (through physics, chemistry, biology, etc.). Now, the maps that we have through maths can be extremely useful and very accurate to/representative of reality, certainly.
I am a Boltzmann Brain and there is literally nothing anyone can do to convince me otherwise...jk
For the moment
ALL NIGHT LONG
Ah yes solipsism, the principle that we cannot actually know... anything at all... beyond knowing that we ourself exist in some form because we are presently thinking about it, be it as an algorithm running in a simulation, or a brain in a jar being tortured with hallucinations on some 5th dimensional being's shelf.
I remember chuckling to myself upon learning that the answer to this situation is just don't think about it because it isn't productive.
Problem with that is It seems like a perfectly rational argument against the pursuit of productivity.
If you can't tell the difference, does it matter?
Btw, for those saying solipsism, yes, it is a thing but it's not represented here. Frank didn't say "this is my higher being's dream and you're all part of it", he said "we are all in a lower level of reality to that of the external Creator". It's closer to Abrahamic monotheism than solipsism! 😅