Contradiction, "The Real," and Thought Experiments

[grandpa]

Reading stuff online, I stumbled into a fascinating quote by Terence Kemp McKenna, a "psychedelic" guru of sorts. I don't usually read such people (although Hunter S. Thompson is a blast), nor do I spend my time in the "philosophy and religion" section here. But the following quote really sort of blew my mind:

Contradiction is not a problem; contradiction is the proof
that you’re actually dealing with the Real.

What I love about the quote is that it is right and wrong simultaneously. It means something (perhaps everything), but also means nothing. In a way it's like the mind is tricking itself just by reading it. It reminds me of the "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" sentence composed by Noam Chomsky in 1957, as "an example of a sentence whose grammar (logical form) is correct but whose semantics are nonsensical, and therefore has no meaning to understand" (Wikipedia).

It gets me to thinking about thought experiments, and how so much of our time is spent rationalizing what we believe, and justifying our beliefs about those rationalizations. It seems as though thinking itself is a great problem, as it makes us believe contradictions are either a permanent force to be avoided due to embarassment or a completely inconsequential distraction from our own biases regarding reality. Where is the middle ground, and how do we get there without confusing ourselves to the point of no return?

Grandpa h.

[The Black Ghost]

Contradiction is often a misued term. Beleifs and ideas have to be taken in context. Not everything transfers over to the other subject.

Only a mindless machine does not make contradictions, so it is good that we do.

[minorwork]

Reading stuff online, I stumbled into a fascinating quote by Terence Kemp McKenna, a "psychedelic" guru of sorts. I don't usually read such people (although Hunter S. Thompson is a blast), nor do I spend my time in the "philosophy and religion" section here. But the following quote really sort of blew my mind:

Contradiction is not a problem; contradiction is the proof
that you’re actually dealing with the Real.

What I love about the quote is that it is right and wrong simultaneously. It means something (perhaps everything), but also means nothing. In a way it's like the mind is tricking itself just by reading it. It reminds me of the "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" sentence composed by Noam Chomsky in 1957, as "an example of a sentence whose grammar (logical form) is correct but whose semantics are nonsensical, and therefore has no meaning to understand" (Wikipedia).

It gets me to thinking about thought experiments, and how so much of our time is spent rationalizing what we believe, and justifying our beliefs about those rationalizations. It seems as though thinking itself is a great problem, as it makes us believe contradictions are either a permanent force to be avoided due to embarrassment or a completely inconsequential distraction from our own biases regarding reality. Where is the middle ground, and how do we get there without confusing ourselves to the point of no return?

Grandpa h.

Popper said if it can't be falsified it isn't knowledge. The teapot in orbit around Jupiter is not something we can test for. The gorilla in your back yard, however, can be looked for and if you're betting there is no gorilla and some fun loving miners have arranged for the fire department and police to surround your house looking for an escaped gorilla from the transport truck that went in a ditch and you come home from work and find the commotion, then go in your back yard and a gorilla chases you back thru the house and out in the street where the town is laughing at you, THEN you will have confronted the contradiction of your belief of no gorilla and reality is confirmed. True story. Gillespie, Illinois. The poor guy, nah, no sense feeling sorry for him. He was nick named "Snake." He deserved it.

McKenna is more succinct than me.

[Charlatan]

Contradiction is a problem to be solved, as there is only one right. That you are dealing with the real makes contradiction evident, as it works off of mental versus 'physical', so you are dealing with the real. The next statement is true, the previous statement is false.

When it comes to contradiction in this so called real, there is either a way, or no way. If there is a way then it is true, if there is no way then it is false. If it is false then it doesn't make the real false, but it does make the idea false. If the idea is false there is no harm done, unless you spent a lot of money coming up with that idea, which indicates a waste.

[minorwork]

Contradiction is a problem to be solved, as there is only one right. That you are dealing with the real makes contradiction evident, as it works off of mental versus 'physical', so you are dealing with the real. The next statement is true, the previous statement is false.

When it comes to contradiction in this so called real, there is either a way, or no way. If there is a way then it is true, if there is no way then it is false. If it is false then it doesn't make the real false, but it does make the idea false. If the idea is false there is no harm done, unless you spent a lot of money coming up with that idea, which indicates a waste.

"So called" real? What do you call ripping a big toe nail off? It is real, not so called real. A walk to the bathroom with the idea of taking a leak and returning back to bed is interrupted by a furnace intake grate and that false idea of security coming to its contradiction in reality causes no harm? You'd have to be one tough son of a bitch not to consider that wake up call harm of a major type. Harm that you think can get no worse until another brilliant idea hits you. To soak the de-nailed toe in a cold shower. Another idea thrown into the crucible of reality and found wanting as the contradiction of yet another "harmless" idea is burnt away in amplified pain now doubled in intensity. No harm, indeed. Where do you get such fairy tales? I know where you get them. Do not despair.

If there is no harm done if the idea is false, then why do you screw up? False ideas kill, maim, and cause mental anguish and despair. They stand opposed to our battle against pain, suffering, and early death.

Are you sure you want to probe for reality? Are you ready? Throw away the familiar. Make ME understand reality.