Fuck you.
In a recent speech, you equated atheism with Nazism. I am not a Nazi and the two concepts have nothing to do with each other.Yes, we live in an age where religion is quickly dying out. In the past, religion served to 'fill in the gaps' of human knowledge. Whenever science has come along to fill those gaps with the truth, those clinging to their religious beliefs stop the progress of science, and for many centuries, religion has held back the human race and our progression forward.Today we live in an era dominated by science and technology; new discoveries are being made every day, and we know more about the universe and it's workings than anyone in history. This is a scary thing for religion, because it's purpose of 'filling in the gaps' is quickly becoming vestigial. It is, of course, no wonder that a large number of religious bodies are aggressively fighting against this new era of humanity, and it's not surprising to watch them go to such ridiculous extremes as to make comparisons with Hitler and Nazism. Pathetic, really.But for calling me a Nazi: Fuck you.
Whether or not you personally believe something does not alter reality, Juju. You're trying to be smug and smart but that only works if you aren't totally wrong.
That's not what I'm getting at. A fact is an incontrovertible truth, something that can never exist. Therefore, a complete fact cannot actually exist. However, humans like to believe that a fact does exist simply because it makes life a little easier. The only facts that are "true" are the ones you personally believe. Furthermore, reality is whatever you perceive it to be. Never underestimate the power of denial and delusion.
Math is a lie.
But math doesn't exist in the first place. Therefore, 2+2=4 is a fact, and can be a fact for the very reason of it not existing. Hence, you are totally right that a fact can never exist in reality, but that doesn't exclude things that don't actually exist, like math.
I believe we should keep talking about scientific facts instead of just facts, or else we could go filosophical about facts for hours =P
The next argument, of course, is whether reality matters.
2+2=4 wasn't a fact before that statement was stated.
Since a statement can't be not stated, the abstract of 2+2=4 doesn't exist.Idk… Why are you discussing this?If I have 2 apples, and I buy 2 more apples, I have 4 apples. I don't have 3, I don't have 5, I have 4. If I decide I want to believe I have 5 apples it doesn't mean I actually have 5 apples. Math is real and exists in reality, and it is an irrefutable fact. Holy shit.
Only by giving the abstract equation 2+2=4 a context does it then apply to reality. And it does a very good job of simulating reality, because if you have 2 apples and buy 2 more, you will almost always end up with 4.
But there is still a chance an apple could fall from the sky into your bag, and then you have 5. Or quantum mechanics could make one of the apples vanish. Again, you have to keep putting more and more constraints into the system so that the abstract simulation still applies. The reason math is so powerful is because you can apply it to any situation, because it doesn't have a basis in reality by itself.Proving 2+2=4 does not prove that if you have 2 apples and buy two more, you will end up with 4.