Logic And Math Can Save The World — They Can Also Keep It As It Is

I love logic — double-edged as it may be. I don’t like it being used to protect the status quo, though.

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Math is always right. Math is correct a priori. Indeed, math is the supreme leader of logic. In 1984, George Orwell wrote that freedom is being able to say that two plus two equals four. This simplistic bit of logic is fundamental and shouldn’t be taken for granted: absolute power can be as arbitrary about logic as it wants to be because it is absolute.

Social Commentary

However, logical soundness does not make for significant social commentary if the premises on which we base it are flawed. I remember learning logic as part of philosophy in high school: half of the class could not grasp the concept. In frustration, the teacher raised his voice to use what he thought would be the trump card, the winning example, the irrefutable explanation. He asked us to imagine his waking up and saying he would stab the first person to bid him a good morning that fine day. He then asked us whether it would be logical to knife the first neighbour he would meet in the lift after they said ‘good morning!’. Half the class said it wouldn’t be, and in my head, that teacher stormed off the classroom never to return, although I know…