Unmaking Sense

Episode 12.82: What is this truth thing anyway?

Summary by Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
This podcast episode continues the discussion on the nature of truth, challenging the assumption that truth has inherent significance. The speaker argues that our concept of truth is a relic from religious or metaphysical beliefs, where truth was seen as divinely or universally mandated. Instead, they propose that truth is merely a label we apply to ideas we deem important or beneficial to believe.
The speaker contends that the significance of a truth is determined by how often and strongly it's affirmed, not by any intrinsic quality. They use examples like Olympic medal counts versus political elections to illustrate how some truths are more consequential than others.
The discussion then shifts to the responsibility of advocating for important ideas. The speaker suggests that merely presenting these thoughts in a podcast isn't sufficient; there's a need to actively promote and defend these concepts against opposition.
The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of vocally supporting what one believes matters, especially in the context of current global challenges. The speaker encourages listeners to speak up about their beliefs, even if they contradict prevailing thoughts.

Episode 12.81: Time-dependent truth and the difficulties of changing habits of mind.

Summary by Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
We discuss the concept of time-dependent truth, challenging the notion of absolute, eternal truths. We argue that what we consider "truth" is actually a selection of ideas we deem significant, rather than an objective, unchanging reality. The speaker uses examples like Socrates' death and mathematical facts to illustrate how our perception of truth is shaped by our limited capacity to process information and our need to prioritize what matters to us.
The argument suggests that humans must be selective in what they consider important due to our finite resources and inability to comprehend the infinite complexity of the universe. This selectivity leads us to affirm certain truths while disregarding others. The speaker contends that truths are not eternal facts existing independently of human thought, but rather concepts that gain significance through our collective affirmation and belief in their importance.
The discussion touches on how this perspective on truth relates to scientific inquiry, historical events, and even religious beliefs. The speaker argues that understanding truth in this way can help us recognise the potential dangers of absolute truth claims and encourage a more flexible, context-dependent approach to knowledge.

Episode 12.80: A new theory of truth

Truth amounts to what we choose to reiterate, reaffirm, and refuse to allow to be forgotten. So we all have a duty to preserve truth by reiterating and living it. Truth does not have some permanent, privileged position akin to a pebble on a beach that waits patiently for someone to pick it up; unless we embrace it in a living advocacy, the chances are that it will be lost forever.

Episode 12.79: Legitimate rule-breaking and choosing the right game to play.

We’ve talked about rule-breaking to make inaccessible positions accessible, but what are the proper limits to such rule-breaking, and who decides which game we should best play?

Episode 12.78: Shestov on why we are free from the past

The question of determinism is dead, but it won’t lie down. We return the Lev Shestov and why the past must not be allowed to control us.

Episode 12.77: Turning-points; pivotal moments; ladders we throw away; boats we burn: how we outgrow the world that made us who we are.

Most people reach a turning point in their lives when they turn against everything that has made them what they are. That can be family; it can be tribe; it can be society. It can be nation. It can even be world or species. But change and turn we do. The most balanced and mature of us turn benevolently to suggest that what has made us who we are needs now itself to be changed and to do better. We find ourselves having climbed into a tree using a ladder only to realise that we need the ladder no longer and can throw it away. We burn our boats.  We can no longer go back to what we were because we are determined to become a better version of what we are. 

Episode 12.76: Hierarchy, leadership, influence and simplification.

Four pillars of mayhem all grounded in the wrong ways we make sense of the world.

Episode 12.75: Are limited kinds of anarchism feasible?

In a week when angry mobs have attacked hotels shops and other facilities in many of England’s towns and cities we should be cautious about advocating anarchism, but as I have said 1000 times, anarchism is not the same thing as a Molotov-cocktail-throwing angry mob. Properly understood it means a refusal to acquiesce in the necessity of absolute hierarchy and leadership, and is as such an means of liberation, not enslavement.

Episode 12.74: Why pure anarchism fails

A society based upon pure anarchism in the proper sense of “without hierarchies or leaders” cannot ultimately survive the challenge of the risk-taking opportunistic angry mob or imperialistic army against which it must protect itself if it is to survive.

Episode 12.73: On What Matters

We consider the question ‘What Matters?’ in a world where we reject absolute answers., and why the answer is definitely not “Nothing, because anything goes”.