Re: [ontolog-forum] Social interaction and teamwork

[William Frank <williamf.frank@xxxxxxxxx>]

Every time these issues of the meaning and even existence of such things as 

facts, truth, knowledge, etc. etc. 

arise in this forum, 

it seems to me that John Sowa calmly and modestly bears witness for reason.
 
But I continue to wonder at this, for my taste, all too common topic of disagreement.   I always thought, before joining, that the denial of the existence of these things was known to all to be logically inconsistent, as an application of the liar's paradox, so that whatever mysteries and problems might lurk with respect to them,  nobody at all who thought carefully would be making these superficial, self-contradicting assertions.

On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 11:00 PM, John F Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Len,

First, I'd like to emphasize that knowing *facts* has enormous
survivor values for every species, including humans.  If an animal
knows where to find food, water, etc., that can make a difference
between life and death.

> In nature cooperation is not about truth or facts (however defined ),
> but about playing games.

First of all, there is nothing controversial about the word 'fact'.
If you want a definition, just look in a dictionary.  If you type
"define fact" to Google, you get

 1. A thing that is indisputably the case.
 2. Information used as evidence or as part of a report or news article.

Definition #1 is the primary one.  The second is derivative.
Other dictionaries will give you further fine points, but there
is nothing controversial or political about them.

But there may be controversies about the facts in any particular
case, and finding the facts may lead to a lengthy investigation.

> It shows that some strategies are seemingly wasting precious
> resources only to "impress" others.

Not all facts have the same survival value.  When you're starving,
it's more important to know where to get food than knowing
the capital of Wyoming.

The same is true about impressing other individuals of the same
or different species.  It can be essential for getting a mate,
getting a job, or avoiding being robbed or killed.

> There may even be connection here to the language games.

I agree with that point.

John



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-- 
William Frank

413/376-8167


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