# The Societal Truth Mistake By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-09-10 It's impossible to know what is true. This makes many people uncomfortable, but we always operate under uncertainty. The issue is that we have successfully transformed our native existence and understanding of uncertainty into mathematical and scientific terms. In doing so, we've forgotten the pragmatic way of being and instead see true and absolute as something calculatable. This has never been the case. Mathematics is merely a model of reality with rules that often do not make sense. For example, what does it mean to divide by zero or take the square root of a negative number? This isn't an unsolved area of mathematics; it's a failure of the mathematics model. One should not throw out mathematics as a result; it is still useful. Instead, one should identify and realize its limitations. Fundamentally, mathematics assumes a truth exists based on its assumptions. The same goes for science. It assumes a truth exists that must be endlessly pursued through experimentation. These assumptions have become facts in our culture and resulting mindsets; thus, we feel that life is incomplete and uncomfortable. But what if truth in this way never existed? What if truth isn't a fact and the point? Life would return to something more pragmatic, and existence becomes more real. This is closer to how humans have operated and represents the closure many seek. Mathematics and science have done many great things regarding our species' technological and economic advancements, but it has done little to advance human solidarity and coherence. All models are wrong, but some are useful. Building a society where truth is assumed and becomes fact might be the biggest mistake of the last 200 years. #### Related Items [[Society]] [[Truth]] [[Facts]] [[Mathematics]] [[Science]] [[Life]] [[Uncertainty]] [[Models]]