私たちが信じなければならない不可能なこと
正気を保つために、私たちは気候が完全に混乱していることを受け入れながら、自分たちを救うことはコストに見合わないという理由で、それをほとんど無視しても大丈夫だと信じなければならない——そんな矛盾した現実に直面している。
正気を保つために、私たちは気候が完全に混乱していることを受け入れながら、自分たちを救うことはコストに見合わないという理由で、それをほとんど無視しても大丈夫だと信じなければならない——そんな矛盾した現実に直面している。
The article explores how modern society requires individuals to trust complex systems and expert knowledge that are impossible for any single person to fully verify, drawing on examples from technology, law, and science to argue that belief in such "impossible things" is a necessary foundation of civilization.
The article argues that science, despite its claim to objectivity, remains fundamentally a process of persuasion, where researchers must convince peers through rhetoric, evidence presentation, and social dynamics, challenging the idealized view of pure empirical discovery.
Infinitary logic allows infinitely long formulas and proofs, enabling properties not expressible in first-order logic. Key variants like L(ω1,ω) permit countable conjunctions and disjunctions with finite quantifier strings. These logics are studied in model theory and set theory.
The article examines how certain fundamental assumptions in physics—like locality, realism, and continuity—are mathematically impossible to maintain simultaneously, highlighting the counterintuitive nature of quantum mechanics and the necessity of dropping at least one cherished assumption to build a consistent theory of reality.
Modern society depends on complex systems—bridges, encryption, elections—that most people cannot personally verify, forcing trust in experts and institutions as an unavoidable necessity.