On Truth and Falsity

                           Reality Similar to Mathematics

The skeptics arguments that addition and subtraction are impossible happens to be particularly absurd. pb. OP ps. 218-222. The skeptics admit that subtraction and addition work in experience, but that is all that is needed to make them real. Humans can create mathematical systems that benefit their fellow humans which makes addition and subtraction absolutely necessary. That is the reality of mathematics.

The only real, basic number is the number one. All higher numbers are but additions of the number one. The skeptics admit this which means that they also admit that addition is possible. Every number is a separate system that only works in a very specific way under very specific circumstances. If a carpenter needs a nine inch piece of lumber in a specific place when building a house, no other number but nine will work. If he accidentally cuts a ten inch piece of lumber, he must cut off one inch to make it work. Subtraction is possible. If he accidentally cuts an eight inch piece, he must cut another nine inch piece. Addition is possible. But a house comprises many different lengths of lumber cut and fit together to complete it. Reality happens to be very similar to that.

All numbers higher than the number one are real and useful but only in a spectrum that results from additions of the basic element of mathematics which is the number one. This means the number one can be used to represent all appearances considered to be one in being. This means the number one represents whatever happens to be more than nothing; that is, something. Those dogmatists who assert that "all is one" happens to be right because being itself can only be more than nothing. The number one is the basic element of mathematics that spreads out to the highest possible number. But there can be no such thing as an infinite number because all numbers must be limited to the number one. Human reality is also limited. The basic number one is known to all humans both as a thought object and a sense object. Since the number one can represent the basic idea of something, then all being that is more than nothing would have to be real simply because it transcends nothing. That which causes it to transcend nothing can only be consciousness.

The sign in mathematics for zero cannot be a number. Zero means nothing. Just as zero in mathematics means the absence of number, so the idea of nothing in reality means the absence of something. Just as zero is useful in mathematics, so the idea of nothing is useful in reality. When a human formulates a system, he must use the idea of nothing to exclude any something which will not work in his system. He simply considers any something that will not work in his system to be equal to nothing as far as the efficiency of his system is concerned. He uses a form of subtraction. He also might have to add ideas to his system to make it work.

The system of mathematics based on the number one can represent all of reality. Reality happens to be a vast system of interconnected spectrums, each one with its own basic element. But unlike the number one which is a sense object and a thought object, most of the basic elements of the spectrum of reality are not directly known to humans. For example, humans possess the idea of the circle which results in the spectrum of all circles of any size. But the basic circle remains unknown to humans. Humans possess the idea of justice which results in the spectrum of all systems that try to be just. But the basic idea of justice remains unknown to humans. Humans possess the idea of the spectrum of beauty, but not the basic idea of beauty. The basic idea of nothing regulates reality because it allows humans to select from the spectrums of reality only those sense objects and thought objects that are needed to formulate any particular system. The idea of zero in mathematics performs a similar function. The idea of nothing in reality also allows humans to recognize the falsity that occurs in false systems. The interconnection of all spectrums of reality are based on basic ideas that, unlike the number one, remain unknown to humans. But the basic idea of nothing is vaguely known to humans.

Whenever a person formulates a system, he must use sense objects and/or thought objects selected from the vast spectrum of reality. But a person can also formulate a system that does not work to accomplish anything. All such systems mean nothing, and a person can realize that they mean nothing by his use of his real idea of nothing. When a person makes a miscalculation in mathematics, he can only use real numbers and signs. But he can recognize the falsity of his miscalculation by his use of his idea of nothing. Whether a person formulates a useful system or a false and useless system, he can only use real sense objects and/or thought objects in order to do so. Uselessness only occurs in false systems that always nevertheless comprise real sense objects and/or thought objects. If sense objects and thought objects were themselves unreal, then the vast system of reality based on the spectrums of real, basic elements would be impossible because the sense objects and thought objects themselves would be useless, but they are all useful.

One cannot know something without experience. All sense objects and thought objects are experienced. That is the very purpose of consciousness. All experience happens to be useful for the formulation of useful systems, but that same experience can also form useless systems. Nevertheless, all experience can only be real. One cannot separate knowledge from experience