Comment on Why Conservatives Are Attacking ‘Wokepedia’
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks agoSo do you believe in an objective reality, or not? You said a couple of opposite things there.
I don't think I did say opposite things. I don't believe in an objective reality because there's no way to prove it. But it does seem like a very useful concept, and well supported. I generally behave as if there is an objective reality and I'm not sure how I'd manage if there wasn't one.
It's the same as how one shouldn't say the "believe in" any particular scientific law, because it's always possible that evidence will come along later that disproves it. I suppose you could say I believe it's the best idea I know of, but I don't like getting that sloppy with terms like this when actually discussing the concept of "objective reality."
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
Ah, okay. So it comes down to a strict definition of “belief” which requires total certainty. I’ve seen it used that way before, but when I say I believe something, I never mean there’s no chance I’m mistaken.
FaceDeer@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
The risk I try to avoid with this sort of wording is the religious connotations of "belief." When people believe in a religion they generally do intend that to mean "with no chance I'm mistaken" so I don't want anyone to mistake me as having a religious belief in an objective reality. It's not like that.