Never Say Never
Then what explains the existence of the word "never"?
[quote=Anonymous]As a family law attorney, I recommend never saying the words never or always - they just get you in trouble. Try to keep an open mind, even through hurt.[/quote]
The above statement is self-refuting. It recommends that we never use the words "never" or "always" and by extension cautions against the use of all universal statements like: all A's are B's and no A's are B's. Another similar word with universal scope is "every".
It's common knowledge, as the expression, "every rule has an exception" informs us, that making universal statements is an easy way of getting things wrong. The probability that the statement "all A's are B's" is false is higher than the probability that "some A's are B's" is false.
These probabilities for universal and particular claims reflect the true nature of our reality which is , let's say, complex or chaotic enough to prevent us from making universal claims of any kind.
Granted that everyone has had an experience which required the use of the word "all" e.g. someone might've given all the coins in his/her wallet/purse to a homeless person.
However, the word "never" and "always" are ones that people will find very difficult, even impossible, to use in statements that are about their lives or even about the world at large. How do you explain the existence of these words, words which are for obvious reasons beyond experience? I'm making the assumption that words in language must be about concepts that are part of our experience.
[quote=Anonymous]As a family law attorney, I recommend never saying the words never or always - they just get you in trouble. Try to keep an open mind, even through hurt.[/quote]
The above statement is self-refuting. It recommends that we never use the words "never" or "always" and by extension cautions against the use of all universal statements like: all A's are B's and no A's are B's. Another similar word with universal scope is "every".
It's common knowledge, as the expression, "every rule has an exception" informs us, that making universal statements is an easy way of getting things wrong. The probability that the statement "all A's are B's" is false is higher than the probability that "some A's are B's" is false.
These probabilities for universal and particular claims reflect the true nature of our reality which is , let's say, complex or chaotic enough to prevent us from making universal claims of any kind.
Granted that everyone has had an experience which required the use of the word "all" e.g. someone might've given all the coins in his/her wallet/purse to a homeless person.
However, the word "never" and "always" are ones that people will find very difficult, even impossible, to use in statements that are about their lives or even about the world at large. How do you explain the existence of these words, words which are for obvious reasons beyond experience? I'm making the assumption that words in language must be about concepts that are part of our experience.
Comments (0)