September 28, 2005
-
Mathematical Narrative,
continued:
There is a
pleasantly discursive treatment
of Pontius Pilate’s unanswered question
“What is truth?”— H. S. M. Coxeter, introduction to
Richard J. Trudeau’s
The Non-Euclidean Revolution“People have
always longed for truths about the world — not logical
truths, for all their utility; or even probable truths,
without which daily life would be impossible; but
informative, certain truths, the only ‘truths’ strictly
worthy of the name. Such truths I will call ‘diamonds’;
they are highly desirable but hard to find….The happy
metaphor is Morris Kline’s in Mathematics in Western
Culture (Oxford, 1953), p. 430.”— Richard J. Trudeau,
The Non-Euclidean Revolution,
Birkhauser Boston,
1987, pages 114 and 117“A new
epistemology is emerging to replace the Diamond Theory of
truth. I will call it the ‘Story Theory’ of truth: There
are no diamonds. People make up stories about what they
experience. Stories that catch on are called ‘true.’ The
Story Theory of truth is itself a story that is catching
on. It is being told and retold, with increasing frequency,
by thinkers of many stripes…. My own viewpoint is the
Story Theory…. I concluded long ago that each enterprise
contains only stories (which the scientists call ‘models of
reality’). I had started by hunting diamonds; I did find
dazzlingly beautiful jewels, but always of human
manufacture.”
— Richard J. Trudeau,
The Non-Euclidean Revolution,
Birkhauser Boston,
1987, pages 256 and 259An example of
the story theory of truth:
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow (“Proof”) was apparently born on either Sept.
27, 1972, or Sept. 28, 1972. Google searches yield “about 193” results for the 27th and “about 610” for the 28th.Those who believe in the “story theory” of truth may therefore want to
wish her a happy birthday today. Those who do not may prefer
the contents of yesterday’s entry, from Paltrow’s other birthday.
