in my opinion, the question is brilliant and its importance is misunderstood, though EY somewhat dances around it.
Whether or not the tree makes a noise is irrelevant once no one can hear it, and thus whether or not the tree is heard is a pre-condition to knowledge that it has fell/made noise. the point then is that (i) the lack of truth to a statement and (ii) truth of a statement that cannot be understood are effectively the same thing.
In other words, what is pointless is trying to pin down truths that cannot be conclusively proven within the bounds of human comprehension (e.g., is there free-will, what is the meaning of life), because practically speaking you’re in the same place you would be if there was no answer—just arguing amongst those who choose to consider the question in the first place.
the best evidence that confirmation bias is real and ever-present is a website of similarly thinking people that values comments based on those very users’ reactions. perhaps unsurprisingly, those that conform to the conventional thought are rewarded with points. so i guess while the point system doesn’t actually work as a substantive matter, at least we are afforded a constant reminder that confirmation bias is a problem even among those that purport to take it into account.
of course, my poking fun will only work so long as i don’t get so many negative points that i can no longer question the conventional thought (gasp!). what is my limit? I’ll make sure to conform just enough to stay on here. :) The worst part is I’m not even trying to troll, I’m trying to listen and question at the same time, which is how i thought I’m supposed to learn!
Whether or not the tree makes a noise is irrelevant once no one can hear it, and thus whether or not the tree is heard is a pre-condition to knowledge that it has fell.
This simply isn’t true. There are lots of ways I can know a tree has fallen, even if nobody has heard the tree fall.
what you’re saying is obviously true, but it goes beyond the information available. the question, limited the facts given, is representative of a larger point, which is the one I’m trying to explain as a general observation and is not limited to whether in fact That tree fell and made a noise.
btw, I never thanked you for our previous back and forth -- it was actually quite helpful, and your last comment in our discussion has kept me thinking for a couple weeks now, and perhaps in a couple more i will respond!
EDIT: made small edits.
in my opinion, the question is brilliant and its importance is misunderstood, though EY somewhat dances around it.
Whether or not the tree makes a noise is irrelevant once no one can hear it, and thus whether or not the tree is heard is a pre-condition to knowledge that it has fell/made noise. the point then is that (i) the lack of truth to a statement and (ii) truth of a statement that cannot be understood are effectively the same thing.
In other words, what is pointless is trying to pin down truths that cannot be conclusively proven within the bounds of human comprehension (e.g., is there free-will, what is the meaning of life), because practically speaking you’re in the same place you would be if there was no answer—just arguing amongst those who choose to consider the question in the first place.
the best evidence that confirmation bias is real and ever-present is a website of similarly thinking people that values comments based on those very users’ reactions. perhaps unsurprisingly, those that conform to the conventional thought are rewarded with points. so i guess while the point system doesn’t actually work as a substantive matter, at least we are afforded a constant reminder that confirmation bias is a problem even among those that purport to take it into account.
of course, my poking fun will only work so long as i don’t get so many negative points that i can no longer question the conventional thought (gasp!). what is my limit? I’ll make sure to conform just enough to stay on here. :) The worst part is I’m not even trying to troll, I’m trying to listen and question at the same time, which is how i thought I’m supposed to learn!
This simply isn’t true. There are lots of ways I can know a tree has fallen, even if nobody has heard the tree fall.
what you’re saying is obviously true, but it goes beyond the information available. the question, limited the facts given, is representative of a larger point, which is the one I’m trying to explain as a general observation and is not limited to whether in fact That tree fell and made a noise.
btw, I never thanked you for our previous back and forth -- it was actually quite helpful, and your last comment in our discussion has kept me thinking for a couple weeks now, and perhaps in a couple more i will respond!