What Do You Believe But Cannot Prove?

by jackchristopher on 5/9/2009, 5:53 PM with 51 comments
  • by markbao on 5/9/2009, 9:41 PM

    Given how unfathomably large [1][2] our universe is, there is life out there.

    We can't be so special, that in all of the universe, we're the only living organisms.

    [1] http://content.ytmnd.com/content/c/1/4/c14120ab010cd708c758f...

    [2] compare http://screenshots.markbao.com/660e999564918601acab7157bbac8... and http://screenshots.markbao.com/f0698e51086874626454f576b3f99...

  • by 10ren on 5/9/2009, 7:35 PM

    "It is by logic we prove, it is by intuition that we invent." - Henri Poincaré http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Poincare.html

  • by tc on 5/9/2009, 6:52 PM

    That unwavering respect for individual liberty and personal sovereignty is superior to all other systems by which man can relate to man.

    That no end can be moral if the means to that end require using violence and force against a peaceful individual who has not aggressed against his neighbor.

    That a free society is a strong and secure society.

    That only freedom can breed sustained innovation and growth.

  • by rms on 5/9/2009, 9:55 PM

    http://www.simulation-argument.com/

    Though my understanding of the simulation I am living in is rather different than what Bostrom posits.

  • by anigbrowl on 5/9/2009, 6:28 PM

    My cash flow projections.

  • by godDLL on 5/9/2009, 6:31 PM

    That there's hope for humanity.

  • by nradov on 5/9/2009, 9:53 PM

    Human intelligence and free will is largely the result quantum interactions that are more complex than most anyone suspects. True artificial intelligence will never be possible on transistor-based computers regardless of Moore's law or software advances.

  • by kvs on 5/9/2009, 6:06 PM

    P != NP

  • by jackchristopher on 5/9/2009, 6:35 PM

    Note that I submitted Page 2 of the article. Page 1 was too cluttered, but has interesting comments too.

  • by philh on 5/9/2009, 10:05 PM

    I was actually thinking about this question an hour or so ago, in the shower. I believe this is pure coincidence.

    I also believe that, given a certain amount of liberty, motivation is the most important single factor in determining the success of an individual. This depends on the definition of success, but is reasonably robust. In particular, it covers wealth and happiness (commonly used to judge other people's success and our own, respectively).

  • by 10ren on 5/9/2009, 8:20 PM

    Too many! But I like the second one's (STANISLAS DEHAENE) idea that we can mobilize our old areas [of the brain] in novel ways.

    I think so too. It reminds me of a study that showed that when we use tools (eg drive a car), we use the same brain areas as when we move are bodies. We literally use tools as an extension of the body. That's deep sensory and motor flexibility, that seemingly could exist without intelligence.

  • by falsestprophet on 5/9/2009, 6:27 PM

    nickb = paul graham

  • by endtime on 5/9/2009, 8:38 PM

    I don't really believe anything I can't prove (in the philosophical sense; I believe reasonable things that I haven't personally verified, like for example that the moon is not made of cheese.).

    But there are things I'd like to believe but don't know how to "prove"/justify:

    -That we have free will (in the sense that requires that the universe is nondeterministic).

    -That some things are absolutely morally wrong.

  • by pg on 5/10/2009, 2:58 PM

    It's worth doing good work.

  • by riffer on 5/10/2009, 6:32 PM

    Trying to disprove things is the best way to get in touch with reality

  • by mindhacker on 5/10/2009, 7:50 AM

    Intelligence beyond earth.

  • by known on 5/9/2009, 7:14 PM

    God

  • by skorgu on 5/9/2009, 7:58 PM

    That intelligence is nearly guaranteed to emerge from sufficiently complex systems.

  • by Luc on 5/9/2009, 7:42 PM

    That the universe consists of matter, albeit strangely behaving matter, and that everything we see in the universe, no matter how wonderful, can be ultimately reduced to the interactions of this matter.

  • by speek on 5/9/2009, 6:41 PM

    Computational AI will never get anywhere close to true Intelligence, but Neural Networks might get close.

    Even better would be a hardware _and_ software approach, not a brute forcing approach.

  • by esonica on 5/10/2009, 6:31 AM

    1. Living with a positive attitude attracts positive events and outcomes in your life.

    2. I can do anything I put my mind to ; unproven till I have done everything :)

  • by tdavis on 5/9/2009, 8:13 PM

    Perpetual Satori. Trying to prove it only proves I'm not yet allowing myself to understand it. Therein, as the saying goes, lies the rub.

  • by Raplh on 5/9/2009, 8:42 PM

    That nothing I believe can be proved.

  • by joshu on 5/9/2009, 7:27 PM

    I don't know what it is but edge's format has always been difficult for me to read.

  • by vicaya on 5/13/2009, 10:28 PM

    That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

  • by on 5/10/2009, 6:34 PM

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  • by 8plot on 5/9/2009, 6:36 PM

    Massive collaborative fiction will produce the next great novel.

  • by herval on 5/11/2009, 4:17 AM

    that the man never actually landed on the moon? :-)

  • by cabalamat on 5/10/2009, 2:45 PM

    God doesn't exist.

  • by Angostura on 5/9/2009, 7:54 PM

    That this comment will rightfully be voted down.

  • by pclark on 5/10/2009, 3:19 PM

    Good work is effort well spent.

  • by Banzai10 on 5/9/2009, 7:23 PM

    Swine flu will dissapear soon!

  • by on 5/9/2009, 6:45 PM

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  • by losethos on 5/10/2009, 5:43 AM

    relativity