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felipec  unbelief  1yr ago (felipec.substack.com)   3238 thread views

2+2 = not what you think

felipec.substack.com

Changing someone's mind is very difficult, that's why I like puzzles most people get wrong: to try to open their mind. Challenging the claim that 2+2 is unequivocally 4 is one of my favorites to get people to reconsider what they think is true with 100% certainty.

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I am not 100% certain it's impossible for someone (including myself) to be mistaken about the definitions or meanings of commonly used words or mathematical symbols. It's technically possible with nonzero but very very small probability, especially for very commonly used stuff like 2 and +. But that's true of literally every fact, and there is not enough time in the human lifespan to thoroughly interrogate all of them, so 2+2 is not a wise choice to focus on. I think that the assumption of common knowledge of words is incredibly useful when used appropriately, so sowing doubt and being pedantic about it is likely to cause more harm than good if done unstrategically. Your goal is potentially useful, but pedantry is not the way to accomplish it, you'd do better targeting more ambiguous words that don't have the force of mathematical logic and precision behind them.

I am not 100% certain it's impossible for someone (including myself) to be mistaken about the definitions or meanings of commonly used words or mathematical symbols.

That was not my claim. Please read my claim and then answer my question.

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