What If Everything You Think Is Objectively Wrong?
A thought experiment.
I want to present you with an interesting thought experiment that I stumbled upon a month or two ago.
If you’re prone to nihilism this one probably isn’t for you, see you next week. But, I enjoyed thinking through this so I thought some of you might too.
The idea is exactly what it says in the title: What if everything you think is objectively wrong?
Here’s the backstory:
The context of everything you are and everything you believe is based on the time and location in which you are born.
For all of recorded history, humans have known the truth about almost everything. Only to discover a new truth.
The earth is flat
The earth is at the center of the universe
There is nothing smaller than an atom
Slavery is normal
Communism leads to utopia
Epigenetics is fake
Meteorites aren’t real
The humoral theory of medicine
Only the clergy should know how to read
Human flight is impossible
An important note is that some of these are scientific and some are moral. Morality is just as influenced by time and place as science. The best (or most horrific) example of this is the happy Auschwitz guards.
Why are we arrogant enough to assume humans in 2024 have figured out the objective truth?
I want to introduce you to The End Of History Illusion:
“The end-of-history illusion is a psychological illusion in which individuals of all ages believe that they have experienced significant personal growth and changes in tastes up to the present moment, but will not substantially grow or mature in the future.”
This illusion is tailored to the individual. It was paramount for me when I was doing an exercise in building my “dream life” while on vacation last week. How will I change in the future?
However, I would also argue that this illusion could be applied at a societal level. We assume that the way the world is now won’t drastically change in the future despite the existence of Moore’s Law. Moore’s Law is a proxy for the idea that technology increases exponentially.
So why is this thought experiment useful? For me, it has done 3 things.
It caused me to be more gentle on people I disagree with.
If what I’ve told you makes sense, then in any disagreement, you have to figure there is at least a 1% chance you’re wrong. Therefore, the contempt that comes with 100% conviction shouldn’t be possible.
It taught me to allow ideas to compete in my head.
While there might not be any objectively true ideas with this philosophy, there is still a sliding scale of right and wrong ideas.
Take an example from The Big Bang Theory: “It is a little wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable, it is very wrong to say it is a suspension bridge.”
Allowing ideas to compete in your head and choosing the best one is key.
It reinforced the importance of telling the truth.
Lying about what you believe is true only adds an additional wrinkle. If you can’t even tell yourself the truth, how can you ever hope to find an objective truth.