What do you believe that you can't prove?

[blike]

Saw this on slashdot, thought it'd be interesting to hear everyone's beliefs.

 

Hopefully this thread won't fill up with religious ideologies, that's not what I'm looking for.

[ecoli]

I can't prove Murphey's laws...though I'm sure they're true.

[JohnB]

I believe that in some sciences, upholding the current "theory" is viewed as more important than the dispassionate consideration of facts.

 

And Murphy's Law.

[YT2095]

quite a few things actualy

 

I beleive that the the spirits of our ancestors are with us always, and that we can comunicate with them.

 

I beleieve the earth has Special areas like Ley Lines, and they have profound effects upon us and things, and that I have one in my Kitchen, that moves very slowly, I have anecdotal proof of this though, a letuce over a year old and still edible, a tub of fresh toamoes over 5 months old and as perfect as the day I picked them, and yet less than 3 foot away from the same plant another bunch all dried up!

 

there`s 2 anyway

[Verusamore]

Actually I think there has been proof that murpheys law works , it was printed in an article in a newspaper .

 

The formula, ((U+C+I) x (10-S))/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10)), indicates that to beat Murphy's Law (a.k.a. Sod's Law) you need to change one of the parameter: U for urgency, C for complexity, I for importance, S for skill, F for frequency and A for aggravation. Or in the researchers' own words: "If you haven't got the skill to do something important, leave it alone. If something is urgent or complex, find a simple way to do it. If something going wrong will particularly aggravate you, make certain you know how to do it." Don't you like it when maths back up common sense ?"

 

Though I'm unsure if it would be a good idea to go practical about it ,

 

IF anything can go wrong , it will go wrong

[Sayonara]

I believe you can't prove how many spiders the average person eats during a lifetime.

 

Score one for internet irony.

[Verusamore]

more than 30 less than a 100 so far thats how many I've eaten , mmm spiders yum .

[-Demosthenes-]

YT's kitchen sounds very intersting...

[ydoaPs]

yt, how do compasses operate in your kitchen?

[AL]

Life on other planets. Can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure they're out there, flying around in enormous intergalactic battlecruisers and engaging in all manner of destructive high-tech warfare...and we're missing out on all the fun!

[Coral Rhedd]

Qi.

[YT2095]

yt, how do compasses operate in your kitchen?

 

I brought my compass back home with me today in hopes of answering your question, sadly it`s developed an air bubble inside and is faulty (anywhere I use it). but compensating for that like you would with a spirit level, it didn`t seem in the slightest bit abnormal, my GPS won`t work indoors in a block of flats anyway as it looses EPS, but a Vodafone mobile fone wont work in there in certain spots, but move a foot or so in either direction and it`s full 5 bars again in signal.

probable the steel rebar in the concrete I should imagine, blocking the signal in an odd way.

[Phi for All]

I believe the power of gratitude and love affects us in ways we can never measure or prove. I believe positive and negative emotions affect us on a cellular level.

 

I believe there are truths out there that we will never understand because we demand proof through our senses. If we can't see it, it doesn't exist for us. I believe we need faith as well as science or all we have is technology.

[PersonCube]

This is my honest belief, shun me if you will:

 

We cannot PROVE without a doubt in our minds anything, for how do we /honest to God himself/ know this world is real? (Not to sound like the Matrix, for that is NOT what I am going for, I am being serious, /really/) For all we know this world is just a huge computer simulation, or possibly we are just test specimen for some gargantuan race, etc etc. I have many beliefs upon the "Man Theory," etc. etc. But I shall not state them here.

 

Good day,

Stephen Wooten

~Cubes

[PersonCube]

I apologize for 'double posting,' if it bothers some one please delete both of my posts... I forgot an important piece to my stated-above.

 

We do not know things or can prove things, we only believe what we are taught by other people....... other people.... *sigh* Sure, we all have seen electrons or cells, etc etc, but how do we /really/ without a doubt know that is the truth? We really don't... and that is what scares me...

[AL]

We cannot PROVE without a doubt in our minds anything.

That statement is self-refuting. If you cannot prove anything to be true, then you cannot prove that very claim to be true, so there's no reason to regard it as such.

how do we /honest to God himself/ know this world is real? (Not to sound like the Matrix, for that is NOT what I am going for, I am being serious, /really/) For all we know this world is just a huge computer simulation, or possibly we are just test specimen for some gargantuan race, etc etc. I have many beliefs upon the "Man Theory," etc. etc. But I shall not state them here.

This world is real, even if I was plugged into a giant computer simulation and wasn't aware of it. My failure to understand the true nature of my world doesn't render my world unreal.

 

We do not know things or can prove things, we only believe what we are taught by other people....... other people....

I don't agree with your epistemology. There are things which are blatantly self-evident that to deny them would be absurd. Your own existence, for instance, is one of many things which can be treated as axiomatic. It is self-evident. To deny it is preposterous, as you must exist in order to carry out the act of denial. The exact nature of my existence is irrelevant to my existence itself, so no need to bring up lines of inquiry like "well how do you know you really exist and are not a sprite in a big computer game?" If it turns out I am a sprite in a computer game, I still exist albeit as a sprite in a computer game.

[sepultallica]

i cant prove that my ex was cheating on me but damn.

[Martin]

Saw this on slashdot' date=' thought it'd be interesting to hear everyone's beliefs.

 

Hopefully this thread won't fill up with religious ideologies, that's not what I'm looking for.[/quote']

 

Edge.org asked that question to 120 scientists just now and put their answers online

 

What do you believe is true but can't prove?

 

to see some of the answers:

 

http://www.edge.org/q2005/q05_10.html

 

that is page 10, it has links to the other 9 pages of answers

[ydoaPs]

Life on other planets. Can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure they're out there, flying around in enormous intergalactic battlecruisers and engaging in all manner of destructive high-tech warfare...and we're missing out on all the fun!

 

i think you can. put a martian in a box and take it back to earth.

[NSX]

That statement is self-refuting. If you cannot prove anything to be true' date=' then you cannot prove that very claim to be true, so there's no reason to regard it as such.

 

This world is real, even if I was plugged into a giant computer simulation and wasn't aware of it. My failure to understand the true nature of my world doesn't render my world unreal.

 

 

I don't agree with your epistemology. There are things which are blatantly self-evident that to deny them would be absurd. Your own existence, for instance, is one of many things which can be treated as axiomatic. It is self-evident. To deny it is preposterous, as you must exist in order to carry out the act of denial. The exact nature of my existence is irrelevant to my existence itself, so no need to bring up lines of inquiry like "well how do you know you really exist and are not a sprite in a big computer game?" If it turns out I am a sprite in a computer game, I still exist albeit as a sprite in a computer game.[/quote']

 

 

heh

 

I was going to say something along the lines of PersonCube as well, that is, the mind-body problem.

 

Note however AL, that claims are not true, nor are they false; they are valid or invalid.

[AL]

Note however AL, that claims are not true, nor are they false; they are valid or invalid.

I'm not sure in what context you are using those terms, but while a logical argument or inference can be valid or invalid, the actual conclusions can be regarded as true or false.

 

When making a deduction, if the premises of a valid inference are true, then the conclusion is true. If the premises of an invalid inference are true, one can say nothing of the conclusion. Also, if the premises of an argument are false, one can still say nothing of the conclusion, regardless of whether the inference is valid or invalid.

 

Some examples to illustrate this:

 

Premise 1: Socrates is a man.

Premise 2: Men are mortal.

Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

True premises, valid inference, true conclusion.

 

Premise 1: Socrates is a man.

Premise 2: Men are mortal.

Conclusion: Socrates likes men.

True premises, invalid inference, can't be certain the conclusion is true or false.

[Guest Miranda]

I believe in ghosts, and I strive to prove that they exist, if not to the world, then simply to myself, and that alone is my motivator.

[YT2095]

here`s another one from the old YT:

 

I beleive that cattle Mutilation is part of an ongoing .GOV experiment.

to establish the long term effects of Radiation, hence most mutilations are around testing sites and along the paths of prevailing winds.

 

it`s nothing to do with Aliens from outer space, nor is it a homebrew conspiricy theory, it`s just what I recon is the case!

[nur_agus_ipftiuii]

I believe that anything has their own believe.

 

I believe that computer program is originally based on 0-1 binary number.

And I believe that human is a highly unreachable enormous complex structure of 0-1 to computer.

I believe that our life on this earth is based on believe.

I believe that you cannot read this message if you don't believe in alphabet character.

I believe that there is something greater than our universe, affect our universe directly.

 

Thanks. And sorry for my bad English

[ctc7752]

I believe that people appear to you for a reason. Perhaps you have a question that perplexes you or you are troubled or an opportunity is presenting itself. These are not random causes but intentional designs.