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The truth about the truth? – There is none? – That’s a joke. Isn’t it?
Consider the parable of the black sheep. It shows that the whole thing about the truth about the truth isn’t all that easy:
Three scientists were on a train and had just crossed the border into Scotland. A black sheep was grazing on a hillside. The biologist peered out of the window and said, “Look! Scottish sheep are black!” The chemist said, “No, no. Some Scottish sheep are black.” The physicist, with an irritated tone in his voice, said, “My friends, there is at least one field, containing at least one sheep, of which at least one side is black some of the time.”
Let alone that this joke nicely shows the love-hate-relationship (OK… mostly love in disguise) between biologists, chemists and physicists, what can we learn from that parable?
It is a first indication that the whole thing around the truth isn’t that simple. Each one of these three statements is correct in a way, and still the three seem to contradict each other. If you managed to keep up in school when the topic of “logic” was on the agenda (and not everybody does…), you should feel your hair stand up now. How can these three statements be “somehow” be right and wrong at the same time?
We’ll look into it. Later.
