On Truth and Falsity

                        The Truth in False Systems

The skeptics often compare two completely different systems. They compare mirrors of different shapes that reflect distorted images with the different shapes of the sense organs of animals that they conclude must distort images as well. Mirrors of different shapes do provide distorted reflections when humans look into them, but these systems serve a useful purpose. They provide amusement and entertainment for humans who enjoy seeing distorted images of themselves. All systems that have a useful purpose can only be true and real systems. Illusions, which are always false systems, are usually useless and equal to the idea of nothing. But humans can make exceptions to this rule. Illusions are false systems, but when a fiction writer writes about unicorns in fairy tales, he treats them as being real so that his story will entertain his readers. When humans use illusions in this way, they can actually create true and real systems that serve a useful purpose.

But the skeptics reason that because animals have differently shaped sense organs, then appearances must be different for each animal, and therefore, no one can ever tell what true appearances could be. But this must be false reasoning because the skeptics can never experience what animals experience. Yet, even if different animals do possess different appearances, all of which are different from human appearances, nevertheless, the skeptics do not consider that because animals survive and even thrive in their habitats, that means that God has created each animal with its own calibrated set of appearances to facilitate its conformity to its environment and its chance of survival. In such a case, every set of appearances to each animal would be a true and useful system for that animal.

The same is true for humans. God has created humans in His image but with limited intelligence and free will. Genesis 1:27. This means that God calibrated the appearances that humans possess with their ability to grow from babies to adults with the intelligence and free will necessary to learn how to be good humans and cooperate together to build better societies. Humans who are born with distorted appearances do not learn how to be healthy humans in their minds. Humans who acquire distorted appearances in their minds because of false systems in their environment as they grew up often fail to become good humans. Since clear appearances facilitate the development of good and useful humans, then all clear appearances to humans must be true and real. Humans can possess distorted appearances in their minds caused by false systems in an unhealthy environment, but nevertheless, all distorted appearances and false systems always comprise real and true appearances that have been formulated into false systems, like mistakes in arithmetic. Even distorted images reflected by differently shaped mirrors always take the forms of true and real shapes such as curved or narrowed. That which humans never directly experience is unreality. pb. OP p.30.