Sense-Perception/Memory, Reliability of

Note: Last Updated 7/29/2024.

Jason Lyle:

     In order for a worldview to be rationally defensible, it must be internally consistent. But just because a worldview is self-consistent does not necessarily mean that it is correct. There is another criterion as well. A rational worldview must provide the preconditions of intelligibility. These are conditions that must be accepted as true before we can know anything about the universe. The preconditions of intelligibility are things that most people take for granted.

     The reliability of memory is one example. Everyone assumes that his or her memory is basically reliable, but this turns out to be rather difficult to prove. How do you really know that your memory is reliable? Some might say, “Well, I took a memory test two weeks ago, and I did very well on it.” But we could reply, “How do you know you took a test two weeks ago? Just because you remember this doesn’t prove it happened unless we already knew your memory is reliable.” That our memories are basically reliable is something that we all assume before we begin to investigate the universe.

     Another example is the reliability of our senses. We suppose that our eyes, ears, and other senses reliably report the details about the universe in which we live. Without this assumption, science would be impossible. We could draw no reliable conclusions from any experiment if our observations of the experiment are unreliable. If our sensory experiences are merely illusions, then science would be impossible.

     Consider one more crucial example: laws of logic. We all presume that there are laws of logic that govern correct reasoning. Earlier in this chapter I stated that contradictions cannot be true. It probably didn’t occur to any reader to question that claim; it is a law of logic that we all take for granted. And yet how could we prove that there are laws of logic? We would have to first assume them in order to begin a logical proof. Therefore, laws of logic constitute a precondition of intelligibility. They must be assumed before we can even begin to reason about anything — including reasoning about the laws of logic themselves.

     We take for granted that our senses and memory are basically reliable, and that there are laws of logic. Yet most of us do not stop to think why these things are so.

(Jason Lyle, The Ultimate Proof of Creation, [Green Forest: Master Books, 2011], pp. 38-39.)

καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν ~ Soli Deo Gloria