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Truth Confusion? It is easy to understand why.

A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.

Segal’s Law

Consequently, some claim to possess the absolute truth, yet they cannot. The objectively true process of reason prohibits it (see the “pursuit of truth” image below).

A conceptualizing pursuit-of-truth process.

I know, I know. I have used the following image many times before. It is conceptual, and because of that, it is hard to understand and reflexively hard to embrace. It creates uncertainty. However, I say it now, again, only as a reference. The following thought experiment walks you through it. So, for the moment, just think about it. Endeavor to tolerate it. God’s unmerited favor will be the reward for your tolerance.

For reference, this image is rendered conceptual because of the UNKNOWN hypothesis. For reason, truth is always unclaimable. In the thought experiment below, I will endeavor to demonstrate why. The critical step is to merely tolerate that truth as unclaimable. This is step one for reason.

Click on any image to enlarge it.

Overcoming habit through SELF-control

Eventually Achieving SELF-Awareness

This is another preliminary and crucial step.

Try to accept that your subconscious is your everyday (i.e., working) brain. Specifically, notice that the subconscious (the SELF) is trivially programmable by others. In the following video, the hypnotist is empowered with the shocking power to suggest that the hypnotized individual “forgets” the number two. The demonstration is both comical and alarming. Yet, this is an important concept to understand. Your subconscious brain is programmable. Propaganda exploits this human cognitive vulnerability.

Hypnotizable individuals do not have SELF-awareness. The SELF, that is, the subconscious, is habitual. The habitual individual can become a chicken if the human programmer (the hypnotist) desires it. So long as the individual trusts the programmer, their brain is manipulatable (i.e., programmable). Note also that this is how tribalism is achieved. Tribal leaders take thought control. See North Korea or the CCP.

If you are interested, the following describes how the hypnosis process above happens. In short, awareness (consciousness) follows habit. A neuroscientist named Benjamin Libet demonstrated it. When individuals lack SELF-awareness, their cognitive habit blindly accepts third-party input. Tribalism, our primitive way of thought, happens this way. The hypnotist merely told the individual to disable their awareness (i.e., to go to sleep). Then, they reprogrammed the subconscious. This result is shocking. But it is true. Consider our political divisions. They arise because of programmed beliefs and not the pursuit of truth.

With the above as a foundation, let me pursue/illustrate the process of reason.

The “pursuit-of-truth” thought experiment

If I suggest that the adjacent image represents a shadow of another object, what object do you think the shadow depicts?

Do you think it is a circle? Is it a sphere? Is it a cylinder? Or is it something else?

Conceptualization is already key. Pursuing this question without conceptualization is impossible, and consequently, you will encounter uncertainty. Eliminating concepts that do not work reduces and quarantines uncertainty. In fact, this is the process. The search for the sufficient condition is all about eliminating hypotheses that had previously met the necessary condition.

Nevertheless, did you have a reflexive (immediate) response? If you do, this is habit. In truth, none can say. A person with SELF-control would not jump to conclusions. Moreover, a rational person would look for the un-obvious answer and, if possible, eliminate it. In truth, none can truly say what is true. So says the process of reason. This is true because the suggested answers above meet the necessary condition. That is, they explain the observed (the shadow). This is how one meets the necessary condition. So, they are not wrong. Yet, they cannot represent the absolute truth since other viable explanations remain.

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What if another person, from a different perspective, sees the following:

This person imagines that a square, cube, or a cuboid might produce the shadow,

Is this person wrong? If so, it’s easy-peasy. The sole surviving hypothesis is objective truth. However, for the pursuit of truth, false ideas must be disproved.

Often, this is not the case. Instead, maybe both perspectives are true. So now what?

Again, conceptualization commences.

We live in a 3D world. A 3D object explains what we might perceive in a 2D world. Fortunately, 3D thinking is supported (and potentially confirmed) by perception. However, can you imagine other explanations for the perceived shadows? Again, this requires conceptualization.

Conceptualization is hard

Four-D conceptualization is harder still. Your human perception is no longer an asset. Can you do it? Is it possible that a four-d object explains what you perceive in three-d? (HINT: it is). Thus, imagination (conceptualization) aids reason. Furthermore, the truth that only God can claim also aids reason.

Now, going back to the process of reason, the sufficient condition is proved when all but one hypothesis is disproved. A rational person imagines new hypotheses by granting God’s truth. This neverending process produces innovation. In fact, it is the only way. Those who claim truth terminate innovation.