(October 4, 2013 at 9:05 pm)Rational AKD Wrote: how can you test your cognitive abilities without using your cognitive abilities? you can't. you can't reason without using your reason. if you are unable to reason, then you are unable to determine what is true and what is false. if you're unable to do that, then everything is just as likely to be true as it is to be false and there's no way for us to determine one way or the other because that would require reason.
You seem to be equating uncertainty with unreliability and failing to take into consideration that just because something is uncertain, doesn't mean we can't determine the probability of that something being true. So, while we can't be certain of something, we can somewhat determine the probability of that something being true and operate under a reasonable assumption.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
