Introduction to Rationality

Why Reason, Empiricism, & Logic?

Reason Is

Separating truth and falsehood, up to and including the generation of new and novel ideas and approaches.

Reason Is

Empirical. That is to say, we know what can be measured and shown to be true.

Reason Is

Logical. Even if we can’t measure it, we can suspect it, if it doesn’t contradict known truths. The study of philosophy is predicated on this idea.

Reason is

Scientific, in that it only applies to things that are a part of our reality. Reason cannot apply to things which cannot be experienced or measured, because it is impossible to know their behavior.

Reason is Exploration

Reason never says it doesn’t know, it merely says that it doesn’t know yet.

WHY IS REASON IMPORTANT?Okay, so, I’m not a Scientist or a Philosopher, so...

Reason expands the Tower

Thunderf00t recently called the sum total of all human knowledge an Ivory Tower, and it is an apt analogy.

Humans know two things and only two things: what they can discover in their short lifetimes, and what can be remembered of the knowledge of past generations.

Reason provides a framework for developing, with consistency, new knowledge, to be added to the cloud, and for retrieval by generations to come long after our own.

Reason is uniform. It transcends languages and cultures. It cares only for reality.

It Moves Forward

Humans wouldn’t know anything if other humans didn’t lay the groundwork. Electronics were not freshly invented by scientists working in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or even today, though the field of electronics moves forwards in leaps and bounds.

Without reasoned practice, we wouldn’t have the modern understanding we have of: medicine, infrastructure engineering, telecommunications, automotive transportation, human flight, agriculture, economics, robotics, computer science, and others.

Indeed, without reason, we couldn’t have this conversation, without sitting face-to-face.

It Breeds Understanding

The process of reasoned discussion and reasoned study are non-oppositional in nature and by design. The object is not to prove oneself right, or prove the other parties wrong. It is merely to present the best argument for your side.

When someone uses reasoned debate correctly, they may run the risk of their own mind being changed, if the other argument is more inherently logical and better supported than their own.

Reasoned, Proper debate is non-confrontational, and does not resort to logical fallacies to prove a point. In that way, it breeds a willingness to relate to one another.

WHAT ABOUT MY FAITH?I’m a devotee of my religion and I think you might be a closet atheist...

Reason and God

Reason, ultimately, is unconcerned with God. Your spirituality comes from within, and you may even choose to ground your faith in reasonable principles. However, reason, in its empirical aspect, is concerned only with matters of the mundane world.

Empirical evaluation cannot tell you whether or not God exists, which Gods are the right Gods, or why you should go to church on Sunday.

Logic enters into this area, however. One can apply logic (by degrees), to make some of the choices empiricism cannot. But, ultimately, you will be making a leap of faith... That’s why they call it that.

Reason and Scriptures

Most major world religions have their holy texts, and most of them have creation stories and miracles.

Understand that reasonably, there’s nothing wrong with the texts, except that which can be shown to be untrue. We know, for instance, the age of the universe, through various means, including Background Radiation measurements. Therefore, in the extent that the bible does not describe the universe as being some 13.75 Billion years old, it is incorrect.

However, that does not discount the entire text, or even that the Christian God had a hand in the creation of the universe.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT?

I’m not saying I’m onboard, but...

In future presentations, I hope to talk about...

• How we know we know something:– Reason in Theory

• Why your qualifications aren’t that important:– An Argument’s Own Merits

• Reason vs Rhetoric– Debate Practices

• A Few Arguments, Including:

The Chinese Room, Free Will, Introduction to Cosmology