The life of one man is short, and to very few is it given to achieve much
in their lifetime. Extensive achievements are made almost entirely by many
men taking up the work done by a discoverer. In such a case, we arrive at
a _complete_ “truth,” not by the production of one man but by a chain of
men, but the initial discovery not only has to be produced but correctly
defined before it can be used and that is the important point to be made.
What we do not realize is the tremendous amount of mental work that is
lost by an incorrect use of words.
Human thought—that unique, subtle and yet most energetic phenomenon of
nature—is in the main wantonly wasted, because we do not use, or take
pains to use, suitable language; at the same time, false definitions lead
to consequences not merely wasteful but positively harmful. When ideas and
facts are falsely defined, they tend to bring us to false conclusions, and
false conclusions lead us in wrong directions, and life and knowledge
greatly suffer in consequence. Our progress is not a well ordered pursuit
after truth, as pure chance plays too large a part in it.
Until lately, logic was supposed to be the science of correct thinking,
but modern thought has progressed so far that the old logic is not able to
handle the great accumulated volume—the great complicated mass of existing
ideas and facts—and so we are forced to look for another instrument much
more expedient and powerful. There is no need to establish a new science
to replace logic; we simply have to look closer into the sciences at hand
and realize the fact, which was with us all the time, namely, that
mathematics and mathematical reasoning is nothing else than the true logic
of nature—nature’s universal tongue—the one means of expression that is
the same for all peoples. This is not a play on words, it is a fact which,
after investigation, everybody must admit. Everybody who wants to think
logically must think mathematically or give up any pretense of correct
thinking—there is no escape and all who refuse to investigate the justice
of this statement put themselves outside the pale of logically thinking
people. The application of rigorous thinking to life will even
revolutionize scientific methods by the introduction of right definitions,
correct classifications, just language, and so will lead to trustworthy
results. Very probably all our doctrines and creeds will have to be
revised; some rejected, some rectified, some broadened; bringing about
unanimity of all sciences and thus greatly increasing their effectiveness
in the pursuit of truth. This application of mathematics to life will even
revolutionize mathematics itself. In App. I it is suggested tentatively
how this may be accomplished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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