|
Proof'n Spoof
The previous article refers to the work of Gödel and other logicians who finally demonstrated the folly of mankind in believing that, through rational thought, everything could be known.
However, the proofs of the logician are about as comprehensible as Chinese to a deaf and blind parrot. So let's try another way of comprehending the incomprehensible.
"This sentence cannot be proved."
To properly understand that sentence, we have to know the grammatical rules of the English language plus the precise meaning of each of its words. Given a year or two, and many reams of paper, an apprentice logician might come up with an inconsistency--a proof that effectively says that he/she has proved what cannot be proved.
If the sentence had been written in all the languages of mankind, we would have needed a grammar and dictionary for each. So what we really need is a "meta-language," one that can state precisely what is required and how the requirements transform into each human language. Defining the meaning of language (or mathematics) from within itself spells trouble.
A speck or two of thought may now help us realize that the rules for precise proofs of precise statements need to be formulated in a language different from and superior to the original language of formulation--a meta-language, a language above language. The "lower" can only be precisely defined and understood by that which is "higher."
Carrying the basic concept into another area, we should be able to comprehend that a creature cannot successfully define the nature of its creator.
Mankind cannot define what God can "be" or "do." Nor can man define what, how, or how much revelators can reveal. Things would be simpler if we recognized our limitations.
|
|
