Duality of Logic

Ever since the conception of the world as we know it, life has been one of the most puzzling phenomena of all, which even the great human beings have not been able to decode. Even today, we have not arrived at a definitive conclusion as to what life really is. If one was to be metaphysical about it, a possible definition of life could be any living organism that can experience this world through its existence. If you think about it, you’ll find out that no other non-living thing can be associated with this definition. And yet, we want to push farther than that. As human beings, we have never really been convinced by ifs, buts and maybes. We undeniably trend towards absolutes. For some odd reason, it seems that we have had the constant urge to find out what the hell is going on around us. The greatest questions that several great minds have attempted to crack are the ones that puzzle us all.

?

Who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose?

?

Some of you reading this may think, human beings are the most selfish creatures of all to sit and think that they have some purpose to begin with. A fish is just a fish. A dog is just a dog. They are born, they live, and they die. Why are we entitled to think that there is some undiscovered motive behind this all? Why should we have a purpose in the first place?

This is where the duality of logic begins.

1.First Principles

?The Oxford English Dictionary states the definition of logic as, “reasoning conducted or assessed based on strict principles of validity”. This basically translates to a “tangible foundation”. For centuries, there have been many philosophical theories on logic and reasoning. Many great thinkers who have proclaimed the ideal way of “thinking”. But who is to say, really? This is where the concept of first principles was conceived. The first principles way of thinking entails breaking down any problem into its fundamental elements and then investigating each element with reason. People believe this gives way to a mostly error free way of building up logic and reasoning and coming up with quick and effective solutions. Most of the scientific community operates on the first principles way of thinking. As human beings, we have made so many groundbreaking discoveries and have invented our own way of understanding this world through math, physics, chemistry, and biology. It was pretty evident that without these founding blocks, the world could be quantified, nor could it be rationalized, which in-turn meant that it could not be understood either. Once we understood how to use these elements to describe the world, we never stopped. Cars, planes, boats, medicine, computers, internet, rockets and what not? Centuries later, here we are, the rulers of Earth, expanding into space, willing to conquer everything within our reach.

?I consider myself a first principles thinker. I have never allowed myself to fall for ifs and buts. Like most of the people in the scientific community, I have firmly believed that life is not special. It is a chance of a billion permutations and combinations that worked out right. Does that make us special and rare? Sure. But, at the end of the day, our thoughts are not from an “inner voice”. It is from the collective information our brain has gathered, growing up in this world, with the people around us. They are merely information constructed from experiences (data), transmitted through our brain by neurons with electrical signals. Physics. Chemistry. Biology. Math.

?I have also believed that the existence of a higher power is highly unlikely. Everything around us is created by matter, following a certain set of principles that govern its existence. Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and many of the pioneers that did great work in helping human beings understand this world were able to do so because they saw the world for what it is. Not only did they keep asking “why” until they reached the bottom of it, but also reasoned out those possibilities using first principles. There is no creator. There is no protector. There is no destroyer. If you break down any major galactic event since the existence of time, it comes down to the same four elements. Physics. Chemistry. Biology. Math.

?It is a comfortable world out there when you think God will protect us all from evil. It is a world of false hope because we are all we have. Human beings are a product of evolution, just like every other living organism on this planet. Fishes have gills to breathe underwater because oxygen is diluted in water. Miracle? No. Creation of God? Nope.

Fishes evolved from invertebrate chordates, the earliest form of marine life. Some of them used gills to filter food out of water. However, evolution helped fish to develop a larger surface area in the fins to absorb oxygen from the waters, which gave rise to a whole new era of aquatic life. The logic was simple. Follow the requirements. Chimps and monkeys needed big hands and feet as they spent all their lives in the forests, mostly traversing through trees, hunting, and evading predators. They developed excellent dexterity even on their feet because their environment demanded that. But as human beings evolved from them, our hands and feet became much smaller, lankier, and smoother as our function as intelligent, social beings was not to jump from tree to tree. We ended up becoming pioneers and inventors, craftsmen and intellectuals. Consequently, the human brain developed to give us a much larger brain than other species of our size would have. Our Encephalization Quotient (EQ) is around 7.4.?(EQ?is?defined as the ratio between actual?brain mass?and predicted brain mass for an animal?of a given size, which is hypothesized to be a rough estimate of the?intelligence?of the animal. We got what we needed to survive).?Probably more than what we needed?

?Again. Physics. Chemistry. Biology. Math.

?No matter what topic we begin with, if you trace it back to the fundamentals, they always consist of these basic elements. Think about it. Why do we need God to be watching over us to be a “good” human being? Why should our morals of doing the right or wrong thing be defined by whether we are being surveilled by a higher power or not? The morality of a person should be independent of supervision. Similarly, the creation of this world is independent of superfluous theories of higher powers and beliefs that everything is part of a “plan”. Imagine being so full of yourself that you think everything revolves around you? No other animal on this planet bothers to find out its “purpose”. But somehow, we are entitled enough to think that maybe we exist for a reason? Maybe there is some logic to it too. And in desperation of finding out what we are here for, we have come up with a billion odd theories, religions, gods, mythologies and what not? All of it to one day be broken down into invalidity because of the first principles. They will prevail over everything else we have created. Over human ideas, human consciousness, human sentience. Everything.

?At the end of the day, we will still only remain with the fundamentals. Physics. Chemistry. Biology. Math.

?If you feel offended after reading all this, you may choose not to read any further. But those who want an adventure are welcome…

?

?2. The Why and what follows...

?From this point on, you will be able to appreciate the arrogance of the human mind a little more, perhaps. “Why” is a much more fundamental question than any other. It digs right through where we last drew a line. The four elements. If we were to further dissect these elements, a crucial question comes up.

?How do we know that 1+1 equals 2? In a quantitative world, it holds true. However, we have not explored the possibility of a different answer. There is good reason for that, however. In the physical world that we live in, everything is quantity. Everything is measured and definite. It works well in our frame of reference, but, if you were to ask the question of “why” long enough, one would quickly realize that the fundamental elements of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Math do not really hold true anymore. If you are confused, try answering the questions below with absolute certainty:

1. Math – Why is 1+1 equal to 2?

2. Physics – What created matter? What happens in the absolute absence of matter?

3. Chemistry – Would the periodic table still be valid if we discovered a billion elements in the future/past?

4. Biology – If all of life stems from energy, isn’t life simply a biophysicochemical process? If yes, what happens to sentience and consciousness after death?

?

These are a few questions to demonstrate that maybe we don’t have all the answers and that it would be equally egotistical to assume that all this universe is defined by our understanding of it.

A similar argument can be brought to light about a superior creator. God.

?There is a popular reasoning of evidence among the non-believers. They ask, “why should we believe in something that has no evidence of existence?”. Fair enough. If we were to use logic in every emotion and sentiment we feel, maybe we should also start asking questions like what is love? How is it a valid to believe in it just because you feel it? If everything had to be quantified and defined based on empirical evidence, who are we to define emotions and consciousness and perhaps even the deniability of God? The rigidity of atheism is just as much a blockade to advancement as are people who believe that the earth is flat.

?This is where the duality of logic really starts to shine because the more you question logic, the more logic keeps defying you. It will crush your spirit and leave you with a sense of “chewing glass and staring into the abyss”. It is not for the weak hearted. It is not for people who wish to believe in something to survive. Heck it is not even for the left-wing scientific moralists who think a box can be drawn around anything in this universe. When you accept the fact that everything that exists in this world is a complete mystery, yet to be understood, yet to be defined and yet to be experienced to its grandest scale, all you are left with is awe and humility. That is when you realize that despite all the progress and technological advancement we have made as a species, it stands for nothing in front of the unknown.

?Christopher Nolan, a British filmmaker explores this concept in probably one of his most scientifically advanced movie plots where one of the characters named Dr. Brand explores the possibility of love being a dimension we cannot perceive yet since we do not have the information/technology to quantify it. Despite the protagonist absolutely crushing the theory apart in ridicule, it in fact ends up being the case in the movie. Yes, it’s just a movie but what it leaves us with is hope for a broader mind. Hope that maybe everything we understand today and what we think we know is maybe just a drop of water in the ocean.

?If you’ve made it till here, you’re probably asking why too. Why these words? Why this article?

?The dual nature of logic shows us that either end of the argument is too rigid. Understanding that the concept of logic may not yet be the foundation of our universe is something we all should consider. If not to understand this world better, at least to keep our ego at bay. It is the duality of logic that drives all forms of conceivable art, technology, ideologies and philosophies. From the world's greatest inventions to the most destructive weapons, everything is a byproduct of this unexplored domain. We are a fancy creature in this magnificent world but there is room for endless trouble if we are not willing to accept the fact that we absolutely do not know everything.

?Nothing is certain.

?Not logic itself, but the duality of it is the foundation of us all.

?Now, Who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose??;)