-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Truth & Understanding.
- Thread starter Jeremiah
- Start date
Reptillian
Hamburgler Extraordinaire
I'd say that you can use false reasoning to reach a correct conclusion. I've done that with long math problems in the past...I make a mistake, but then a later mistake corrects the first one and I get a correct answer.
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
So you only got the correct answer after correcting your earlier mistake?
Reptillian
Hamburgler Extraordinaire
It's not really correcting if it's unintentional. Two mistakes with one fixing the first one...I guess sometimes two wrongs do make a right.
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
It's not really correcting if it's unintentional. Two mistakes with one fixing the first one...I guess sometimes two wrongs do make a right.
Was the mistake due to incorrect understanding?
Not unless we're dealing in certainties.
If a person's (correct) understanding is that something is most likely true and comes to believe it on that basis, then there's still a small chance that the belief is false.
Reptillian
Hamburgler Extraordinaire
No, if I think about it I don't suppose it was. If I recall the mistake was due to a mathematical error but then the second mistake was also a mathematical error that fixed the previous one. One can understand calculus and algebra but forget a symbol or accidentally integrate at the wrong point and still get the same answer.
Still, I could completely understand something yet hold a belief about it that isn't true.
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
So then your math example does not really fit here.
Reptillian
Hamburgler Extraordinaire
I guess not.
No, because understanding is a matter of degree, not all or nothing. Or at least it is in most cases, I'd wager.
I think a good example of this is to consider the sciences. Sciences are undergoing a constant process of revision and change, meaning if you were educated on a subject ten years ago, you might have some ideas about that subject that are no longer considered true. However, this does not mean that your entire understanding of that science is wrong. It just doesn't reflect the cutting-edge research of the field.
Union jack
Member
Understanding could approach a state of truth within the context of an untruth, in which case a disagreement on truth would exist.
AmbiguousGuy
Well-Known Member
Fortunately, I only hold beliefs about things which are true.
It makes everything more sensible.
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
I think everyone has at least a few beliefs which are not true.
AmbiguousGuy
Well-Known Member
Nope. All my beliefs are true. Sorry.
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
Well except for that one. But its OK i won't hold it against you.
What do you mean by true? Depending on how you're using the term, this is very plausible. True doesn't necessarily mean fact, for example. It can also mean accurate, loyal, useful, faithful...
AmbiguousGuy
Well-Known Member
Hi, Quint. I was mostly just making a fun claim, but my point is that no one can prove that any of my beliefs are untrue.
So the OP question doesn't even make sense to me. Why would anyone hold untrue beliefs?
AmbiguousGuy
Well-Known Member
I see you are holding an untrue belief that my belief is untrue. Isn't that kinda silly?
Wait a sec...
So what you're saying is that beliefs themselves are neither true nor false, because they're a state of being that you either hold or you don't.
Would you agree that the contents and claims of beliefs can be true or untrue, though?