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Pain does not replace the truth …

Time: Oct 18, 2023 — Oct 24, 2023)
Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch
Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

CONTEXT

This post is part of the uffmm science blog. It is a translation from the German source: https://www.cognitiveagent.org/2023/10/18/schmerz-ersetzt-nicht-die-wahrheit/. For the translation I have used chatGPT4 and deepl.com. Because in the text the word ‘hamas’ is occurring, chatGPT didn’t translate a long paragraph with this word. Thus the algorithm is somehow ‘biased’ by a certain kind of training. This is really bad because the following text is offers some reflections about a situation where someone ‘hates’ others. This is one of our biggest ‘disease’ today.

Preface

The Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023, has shaken the world. For years, terrorist acts have been shaking our world. In front of our eyes, a is attempting, since 2022 (actually since 2014), to brutally eradicate the entire Ukrainian population. Similar events have been and are taking place in many other regions of the world…

… Pain does not replace the truth [0]…

Truth is not automatic. Making truth available requires significantly more effort than remaining in a state of partial truth.

The probability that a person knows the truth or seeks the truth is smaller than staying in a state of partial truth or outright falsehood.

Whether in a democracy, falsehood or truth predominates depends on how a democracy shapes the process of truth-finding and the communication of truth. There is no automatic path to truth.

In a dictatorship, the likelihood of truth being available is extremely dependent on those who exercise centralized power. Absolute power, however, has already fundamentally broken with the truth (which does not exclude the possibility that this power can have significant effects).

The course of human history on planet Earth thus far has shown that there is evidently no simple, quick path that uniformly leads all people to a state of happiness. This must have to do with humans themselves—with us.

The interest in seeking truth, in cultivating truth, in a collective process of truth, has never been strong enough to overcome the everyday exclusions, falsehoods, hostilities, atrocities…

One’s own pain is terrible, but it does not help us to move forward…

Who even wants a future for all of us?????

[0] There is an overview article by the author from 2018, in which he presents 15 major texts from the blog “Philosophie Jetzt” ( “Philosophy Now”) ( “INFORMAL COSMOLOGY. Part 3a. Evolution – Truth – Society. Synopsis of previous contributions to truth in this blog” ( https://www.cognitiveagent.org/2018/03/20/informelle-kosmologie-teil-3a-evolution-wahrheit-gesellschaft-synopse-der-bisherigen-beitraege-zur-wahrheit-in-diesem-blog/ )), in which the matter of truth is considered from many points of view. In the 5 years since, society’s treatment of truth has continued to deteriorate dramatically.

Hate cancels the truth


Truth is related to knowledge. However, in humans, knowledge most often is subservient to emotions. Whatever we may know or wish to know, when our emotions are against it, we tend to suppress that knowledge.

One form of emotion is hatred. The destructive impact of hatred has accompanied human history like a shadow, leaving a trail of devastation everywhere it goes: in the hater themselves and in their surroundings.

The event of the inhumane attack on October 7, 2023 in Israel, claimed by Hamas, is unthinkable without hatred.

If one traces the history of Hamas since its founding in 1987 [1,2], then one can see that hatred is already laid down as an essential moment in its founding. This hatred is joined by the moment of a religious interpretation, which calls itself Islamic, but which represents a special, very radicalized and at the same time fundamentalist form of Islam.

The history of the state of Israel is complex, and the history of Judaism is no less so. And the fact that today’s Judaism also contains strong components that are clearly fundamentalist and to which hatred is not alien, this also leads within many other factors at the core to a constellation of fundamentalist antagonisms on both sides that do not in themselves reveal any approaches to a solution. The many other people in Israel and Palestine ‘around’ are part of these ‘fundamentalist force fields’, which simply evaporate humanity and truth in their vicinity. By the trail of blood one can see this reality.

Both Judaism and Islam have produced wonderful things, but what does all this mean in the face of a burning hatred that pushes everything aside, that sees only itself.

[1] Jeffrey Herf, Sie machen den Hass zum Weltbild, FAZ 20.Okt. 23, S.11 (Abriss der Geschichte der Hamas und ihr Weltbild, als Teil der größeren Geschichte) (Translation:They make hatred their worldview, FAZ Oct. 20, 23, p.11 (outlining the history of Hamas and its worldview, as part of the larger story)).

[2] Joachim Krause, Die Quellen des Arabischen Antisemitismus, FAZ, 23.10.2023,p.8 (This text “The Sources of Arab Anti-Semitism” complements the account by Jeffrey Herf. According to Krause, Arab anti-Semitism has been widely disseminated in the Arab world since the 1920s/ 30s via the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928).

A society in decline

When truth diminishes and hatred grows (and, indirectly, trust evaporates), a society is in free fall. There is no remedy for this; the use of force cannot heal it, only worsen it.

The mere fact that we believe that lack of truth, dwindling trust, and above all, manifest hatred can only be eradicated through violence, shows how seriously we regard these phenomena and at the same time, how helpless we feel in the face of these attitudes.

In a world whose survival is linked to the availability of truth and trust, it is a piercing alarm signal to observe how difficult it is for us as humans to deal with the absence of truth and face hatred.

Is Hatred Incurable?

When we observe how tenaciously hatred persists in humanity, how unimaginably cruel actions driven by hatred can be, and how helpless we humans seem in the face of hatred, one might wonder if hatred is ultimately not a kind of disease—one that threatens the hater themselves and, particularly, those who are hated with severe harm, ultimately death.

With typical diseases, we have learned to search for remedies that can free us from the illness. But what about a disease like hatred? What helps here? Does anything help? Must we, like in earlier times with people afflicted by deadly diseases (like the plague), isolate, lock away, or send away those who are consumed by hatred to some no man’s land? … but everyone knows that this isn’t feasible… What is feasible? What can combat hatred?

After approximately 300.000 years of Homo sapiens on this planet, we seem strangely helpless in the face of the disease of hatred.

What’s even worse is that there are other people who see in every hater a potential tool to redirect that hatred toward goals they want to damage or destroy, using suitable manipulation. Thus, hatred does not disappear; on the contrary, it feels justified, and new injustices fuel the emergence of new hatred… the disease continues to spread.

One of the greatest events in the entire known universe—the emergence of mysterious life on this planet Earth—has a vulnerable point where this life appears strangely weak and helpless. Throughout history, humans have demonstrated their capability for actions that endure for many generations, that enable more people to live fulfilling lives, but in the face of hatred, they appear oddly helpless… and the one consumed by hatred is left incapacitated, incapable of anything else… plummeting into their dark inner abyss…


Instead of hatred, we need (minimally and in outline):

  1. Water: To sustain human life, along with the infrastructure to provide it, and individuals to maintain that infrastructure. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  2. Food: To sustain human life, along with the infrastructure for its production, storage, processing, transportation, distribution, and provision. Individuals are needed to oversee this infrastructure, and they, too, require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  3. Shelter: To provide a living environment, including the infrastructure for its creation, provisioning, maintenance, and distribution. Individuals are needed to manage this provision, and they, too, require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  4. Energy: For heating, cooling, daily activities, and life itself, along with the infrastructure for its generation, provisioning, maintenance, and distribution. Individuals are needed to oversee this infrastructure, and they, too, require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  5. Authorization and Participation: To access water, food, shelter, and energy. This requires an infrastructure of agreements, and individuals to manage these agreements. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  6. Education: To be capable of undertaking and successfully completing tasks in real life. This necessitates individuals with enough experience and knowledge to offer and conduct such education. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  7. Medical Care: To help with injuries, accidents, and illnesses. This requires individuals with sufficient experience and knowledge to offer and provide medical care, as well as the necessary facilities and equipment. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  8. Communication Facilities: So that everyone can receive helpful information needed to navigate their world effectively. This requires suitable infrastructure and individuals with enough experience and knowledge to provide such information. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  9. Transportation Facilities: So that people and goods can reach the places they need to go. This necessitates suitable infrastructure and individuals with enough experience and knowledge to offer such infrastructure. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  10. Decision Structures: To mediate the diverse needs and necessary services in a way that ensures most people have access to what they need for their daily lives. This requires suitable infrastructure and individuals with enough experience and knowledge to offer such infrastructure. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  11. Law Enforcement: To ensure disruptions and damage to the infrastructure necessary for daily life are resolved without creating new disruptions. This requires suitable infrastructure and individuals with enough experience and knowledge to offer such services. These individuals also require everything they need for their own lives to fulfill this task.
  12. Sufficient Land: To provide enough space for all these requirements, along with suitable soil (for water, food, shelter, transportation, storage, production, etc.).
  13. Suitable Climate
  14. A functioning ecosystem.
  15. A capable scientific community to explore and understand the world.
  16. Suitable technology to accomplish everyday tasks and support scientific endeavors.
  17. Knowledge in the minds of people to understand daily events and make responsible decisions.
  18. Goal orientations (preferences, values, etc.) in the minds of people to make informed decisions.
  19. Ample time and peace to allow these processes to occur and produce results.
  20. Strong and lasting relationships with other population groups pursuing the same goals.
  21. Sufficient commonality among all population groups on Earth to address their shared needs where they are affected.
  22. A sustained positive and constructive competition for those goal orientations that make life possible and viable for as many people on this planet (in this solar system, in this galaxy, etc.) as possible.
  23. The freedom present within the experiential world, included within every living being, especially within humans, should be given as much room as possible, as it is this freedom that can overcome false ideas from the past in the face of a constantly changing world, enabling us to potentially thrive in the world of the future.
  24. …
computer science, cultural level, everyday language, everyday MITM, Guenter Wagner, Günter Wagner, instruments, international standards, local standards, man-in-the-middle, man-in-the-middle (MITM), mass spectroscopy, measurement process, measuring instdruments, newspaper, real properties, standards, technology

Guenter Wagner : Man-in-the-Middle

eJournal: uffmm.org
ISSN 2567-6458, 27.December 2022 – 29.December 2022, 11:00h
Email: info@uffmm.org
Author: Gerd Doeben-Henisch
Email: gerd@doeben-henisch.de

CONTEXT

This text is part of the text Molecules and Atoms. Late Encounter with Günter Wagner: The ‘man-in-the-middle’.

‘Man-in-the-Middle’

In computer science the expression ‘man-in-the-middle’ is well known as a term to describe someone who is ‘in the middle’ between two parties which are communicating with each other. The ‘man-in-the-middle’ is in this setting not ‘known’ to the communicating parties. They think they are communicating directly with each other.[1] But this situation of someone ‘in the middle’ between a ‘receiver’ and a ‘sender’ is very common outside computer science too.

When you read a text in a newspaper, the letters of the text you read are not the ‘events ‘about which’ the text wants to report. Between the intended target of the text and the printed letters there is a long and complicated chain of events, which all together are generating a translation from some ‘events out there’ into the expressions of a text which is send out to you as the reader of the newspaper. This long and hidden chain of events is not visible to you as the reader.

While the ‘man-in-the-middle’ in case of a communication with connected computers is understood as a hostile action, in normal life all these different kinds of ‘man in the middle’ are necessary to enable a sufficient communication between an event and you as a ‘reader’ of the transmitted messages.

A special type of communication is the transmission of ‘real properties’ of the real world to researching people during a so-called ‘measurement process’. To understand this a bit better let us have a look to everyday situations which are known to us.

If different persons want to talk about a certain ‘property’ of the real world with the aid of ‘everyday language’ then this can quickly become difficult because the ‘meaning’ of the expressions of our everyday language is not objectively defined in a precise way. When we are sitting at the table during breakfast and you ask someone whether she can pass you ‘the butter’, then the other person usually can associate the expression ‘the butter’ with some object on the table, if there is ‘only one’. But, if there are two different objects which ‘usually are understood’ as being classified as ‘butter’, you would need some additional ‘distinguishing properties’ to be able to decide ‘which one of them’. And if you would receive a phone call while you are sitting at the table and you would — by some reason — talk with the person of the phone call about ‘butter’, then the ‘meaning’ of the expression ‘butter’ could be very broad.

At first glance one could qualify this ‘fuzziness’ of the meaning of everyday language expressions as ‘weak’ or even as ‘bad’, but in the everyday world it is a great achievement to work with only a few words to be able to talk about an almost infinite number of things, properties. This is possible if the situation referred to is sufficiently known to all participating speakers.

Human societies have grown considerably over the past thousands of years, and daily living situations have become increasingly diverse. If you want to sell a certain amount of flour in the market at a certain price, and you travel to different markets, then it would be good if in all markets the ‘quantities’ and the ‘prices’ were the same. It is therefore no surprise that such situations led to the introduction of local ‘standards’ through which the general idea of ‘standards for measuring’ became visible: You have something you want to measure (e.g. the volume of the ‘flour’) and you have a ‘volume standard’ (e.g. a ‘regional certified container’), which will be used to ‘measure’ a certain ‘amount’ of such certified container-volumes.

As we know, this trend to introduce ‘standards for measurement’ has evolved during the times until we have today a global system of such standards.[2,3] Thus, to measure today some property of the ‘real world’ encoded for communication in some kind of ‘language expressions’ you have to associate your language with such ‘measurement standards’ which are glob ally accepted as well as accepted in your country.[4]

In what follows the author of this text will look a bit more in the topic of ’empirical measurement’ realized with the aid of a ‘measurement process’ which is using instruments (= measurement machines) which are able to support ‘mass spectroscopy’. This philosophical investigation will use the experience of a man who has nearly his whole life dedicated to the theory behinds such measurement process, to the development of the technology enabling mass spectroscopy, and who also has actively promoted divers application scenarios; many years he was also a ‘net-worker’ between many research groups (including teams of Nobel-prize winners), scientific and national institutions, small and big companies, and even political missions in the realm of Nuclear Non-Proliferation treatises around the world.

Encountering this broad view of enabling processes of measurement can hopefully show that these processes are not less important than all the end users of such measurement processes. But in the ‘history of events’ these — often wonderful — ‘men-in-the-middle’ have usually no reporter. This is bad in more than one way. The most important bad effect is, that a society is in danger to forget about this dimension and will probably not ‘educate’ enough young people to be able to ‘keep the cultural level’ high enough to continue with technology and science. Cutting the legs of men (cultural education) makes them immobile …

COMMENTS

wkp := wikipedia

[1] The ‘Man-in-the-middle’ attack: wikipedia [EN]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack

[2] International System of Units, wikipedia [EN]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units. See also ‘derived units’: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_derived_unit. Another often used concept, which is not part of the SI-system is ‘parts-per-notation’ relating to a ‘dimensionless’ term: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parts-per_notation

[3] International Bureau of Weights and Measures (French: Bureau international des poids et mesures, BIPM), see wkp [EN]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bureau_of_Weights_and_Measures

[4] Usually there exists besides the global institute for measurement [3] a national bureau of measurement like the NIST in the USA. See for a first overview wkp [EN]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology