Not everything that is true can be proven. This discovery transformed infinity, changed the course of a world war and led to the modern computer.
Below is chapter 10 of my book "Google LDN !" In it I try to make Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem understandable to everybody.
10. Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem
At the risk of losing my audience, I wanted to cover this topic because I feel it underlies my justification for trying to cure my MS in an irrational way. If you start to haze over reading it, please just skip to the next chapter. While I try to explain it in a way that anyone can understand, I’m not sure how good a job I’ve done. I’m actually not sure that a good job can be done… Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem is the granddaddy of them all, since it applies to mathematics which lies at the very core of all science. One could safely call mathematics the ultimate Aristotelian “First Philosophy” because it is basic to all science before one adds the particular details of any one science. Gödel showed that within a rigidly logical system, propositions can be formulated that are undecidable or indemonstrable within the axioms of the system. That is, within the system, there exist certain clear-cut statements that can neither be proved nor disproved. Hence one cannot, using the usual methods, be certain that the axioms of arithmetic will not lead to contradictions … It appears to foredoom hope of mathematical certitude through use of the obvious methods. Perhaps doomed also, as a result, is the ideal of science - to devise a set of axioms from which all phenomena of the external world can be deduced. Thus, Rationalism is by nature self-limited and unable to explain everything that happens to us in the world. The bottom line is that Gödel’s incompleteness theorem gives me a rational basis to abandon Rationalism as my only source to seek a cure for this multiple sclerosis. Why does this matter to me? It matters because of the subtitle of this book, “A Rationalist Seeks a Miracle Cure.” While that might appear to be self-contradictory at first, Gödel gives it meaning again. I remain a rationalist, even though I acknowledge that Rationalism is self-limiting. Rationalism is still the best system ever devised for finding truth. It simply is incomplete, i.e. some truths must be found outside it. Here’s Gödel’s proof in plain English:
1. Suppose we have a COMPUTER supposedly capable of correctly answering any question. 2. Now consider the following proposition:
“The COMPUTER will never say that this sentence is true.”
1. Now, what happens when we ask the COMPUTER whether that proposition is true? 2. If COMPUTER says it is true, then “COMPUTER will never say this sentence is true” is false. 3. If “COMPUTER will never say that this sentence is true” is false, then the proposition is false (since proposition = “COMPUTER will never say G is true“). 4. So if COMPUTER says the proposition is true, then the proposition is in fact false, and COMPUTER has made a false statement. 5. So COMPUTER will never say that the proposition is true, since COMPUTER makes only true statements. 6. We have established that COMPUTER will never say the proposition is true. 7. So “COMPUTER will never say the proposition is true” is in fact true. 8. So the proposition is true (since the proposition = “COMPUTER will never say that this sentence is true”). 9. We have thus produced a true statement which COMPUTER cannot make. Therefore… That ayahuasca may cure my MS, could well be a truth which Rationalism cannot support. However, what matters ultimately, is the truth. Not the method by which we arrive at it.
Bob thinks I have a neurotic and incorrect view of the meaning of Rationalism.
While I may indeed be neurotic, I think I understand rationalism about as well as it can be understood. Warts and all, it’s still the best system we’ve got. It’s just that it has failed me in this particular case. Gödel makes it possible for me to accept this.
An Alternative to Western Nihilism | His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari
Dr. Jordan B Peterson sits down with the Secretary General of Great Arab Minds, His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari. They discuss the origins of the United Arab Emirates, how the Abraham Accords and a Tri-Faith system have taken effect and opened dialogue, the projects spearheaded by Saeed for the education, entrepreneurialism and empowerment of young Emiratees, and why the unique vision and strong values of the UAE have lifted the country to unimaginable heights in only half a century.
His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari is the Secretary General of Great Arab Minds. He is also spearheading Transformational Projects and Creative Affairs at the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in addition to the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Development Center and the Arab Strategy Forum.
Dr. Jordan B Peterson sits down with the Secretary General of Great Arab Minds, His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari. They discuss the origins of the United Arab Emirates, how the Abraham Accords and a Tri-Faith system have taken effect and opened dialogue, the projects spearheaded by Saeed for the education, entrepreneurialism and empowerment of young Emiratees, and why the unique vision and strong values of the UAE have lifted the country to unimaginable heights in only half a century.
His Excellency Saeed Al Nazari is the Secretary General of Great Arab Minds. He is also spearheading Transformational Projects and Creative Affairs at the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in addition to the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Development Center and the Arab Strategy Forum.
Jordan Peterson - The Heritage Foundation: Responsibility and Meaning | Dr. Kevin Roberts
Jordan B Peterson 7.53M subscribers
Dr. Jordan B Peterson sits down with the current president of the Heritage Foundation, Dr. Kevin Roberts. They discuss the operations and practical utility of think tanks, the state of progressivism across academia, how multiple generations of students are now incapable of facing adversity while claiming to fight it, and why intellectual combat is not something to shut down, but to champion against dire falsehoods.
Dr. Kevin Roberts is the current and 7th president of the Heritage Foundation (granted the role in 2021), an American Conservative think tank tackling issues on border control, immigration, inflation, among many other policy driven topics. He received his PhD in History from the University of Texas. After this, he taught history for a number of years. Then, in 2006 he founded the John Paul The Great Academy, a co-ed, K-12 Catholic liberal arts school in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was president for 7 years before resigning in order to become president of the Wyoming Catholic College.
The Blues Brothers Unrated Version stars comic icons John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in the outrageously funny musical comedy about Jake and Elwood Blues; two brothers searching for redemption with no money but a briefcase full of soul. Hit the road with musical performances by blues legends Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Cab Calloway in the action-packed spectacular from acclaimed director John Landis.
Diagnosed with Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis, Joseph Wouk, youngest son of novelist Herman Wouk refuses to accept the doctor’s opinion that there is nothing more to be done for his medical condition. He plans to go to the Amazon to try to cure himself with a Shaman’s ayahuasca ceremony. The book begins as a journal entitled, PLACEBO – A Rationalist Seeks a Miracle Cure. Wouk, a hardened western rationalist has no patience for spooks or spirits or any other new age wishful thinking. His plan is to try to delude himself with psychedelics into thinking he is cured - Thereby activating the placebo effect to cure himself for real. He covers all the bases: From Buddhism to Judaism. From quantum physics to Gödel’s incompleteness theorem. From alternative medicine to the Metaphysics of Quality. Told with humor and honesty, Wouk pulls the reader through his thought processes as he watches his mind dissolve from the subcortical dementia caused by his particular variety of MS. Right before he is scheduled to leave for Peru, all his MS symptoms suddenly disappear. The only drug he was taking was Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).
The second part of the book is entitled: LDN – Miracle Cure Found ! After his symptoms disappear, Wouk finds out that LDN has been stopping the progress of Progressive MS for 20 years. It also has been helping cancer victims, AIDS patients, Parkinson’s sufferers, and a host of other immune system related diseases.
Naltrexone was FDA approved only to treat recovering addicts. The low dose version works its magic by tripling the body’s production of endorphins. This restores the immune system to full operation; hence the drug’s ability to help so many diseases. It doesn’t fight the diseases; the body fights them once the immune system is restored. Because it is now generic, no one will spend the millions required for FDA approval.
Google LDN ! is Wouk’s attempt at Dana Paramita, the Buddhist version of Christian“good works”. The book includes a hundred page appendix with the most up to date information about LDN and its effects on immune system related diseases.
You’ll laugh and cry through the first part of the book and be inspired by the second part.
A man who refuses to give up in the face of insurmountable odds ends up completely healed despite the hopelessness that western medicine tells him.
