Blog #3: The Logic of Language

First, definitions: What is logic?  Ultimately, logic is a coherent means of inference, the  purpose being to determine truth.  Next, what is language?  It’s a means of communicating thought via symbols.  Enough said.  So, what is the logic of language?  It’s a built-in, intrinsic ability to determine what’s real, i.e., what are the realities of our Universe.  How?  Simply by employing the proper placement and arrangement of words.  For example, the Moon has I/6 the gravity of the Earth.  Excluding obscure variations, and wisecracks, the statement is singularly true.

Can language be used to deduce, (figure out, conceive) the truth?  For example, my farm is in Litchfield, Connecticut.  This arrangement of words infers that there is an area beyond my farm.  That there is a here and that there is an elsewhere.  By extension, my farm is on the Earth, therefore there is somewhere else – the Solar System.  And our Solar System is in the Milky Way galaxy which is in our Universe. Is there a beyond?  The logic of language says yes.  It must be something, perhaps a different configuration of Space, Time, and Matter?

Is mathematics a language too?  Yes, of course, since it conveys thought in regard to truth.  Take the equation 2+2=4, surely a truism.  Two items plus two more items equal a total of four items.  This is a universal truth, a reality anywhere in our Universe.  But it is limited by the operative equal sign.  Whereas the “my farm . . .” statement uses the “is in” operative which gives more subtle information than the mathematical operatives likeetc.  This illustrates the benefits of language; larger actualities can be conveyed.

Statement:  The whole cannot be less than the sum of its parts.  It is impossible for 2+2 to be less than (<) 4.  By inference, something cannot be less than what it is.  Example: An operational car has 4 wheels, therefore without wheels a car cannot be operational.  Now let’s use the logic of language to extend this precept a bit further.  An operational Universe has sentient beings (Earthers).  Therefore, the Universe cannot be an operational entity without sentient beings.  But can the Cosmos be something less than the sum of its parts? No.  Not if 2+2 can’t be less than 4. Hence, the big U itself, if it is to be operational, must contain sentient, cognitive beings, and also is, likely, a thinking, conscious entity too.  It can’t be less than what it is.

Please allow me one more logical syllogism.  Humans live on the Earth.  They are native and indigenous to the planet.  Language offers the concept of opposites.  Ugly is the opposite of beautiful.  And alien is the opposite of native.  A being that lives somewhere other than the Earth is, by definition, an outlander, an alien. Hailing from without, vs. from within.  Now suppose these beings come to visit us.  Likely they would be super advanced, possessing the secrets of the Universe; FTL, antigravity, very long lives, and super intelligence, etc.  If one were to present itself, it could be perceived to be a god.  But by denotation, it would still be an alien.  Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that God, no matter the perceived qualities must also be an alien.  The laws of language speaks this truth.  Ipso facto.

Sometimes you can just figure things out by using words alone coupled with a little bit of thinking.  That’s what Einstein did.