Relatives & Absolutes
Recently I entered into a discussion with a fellow math tutor here at school, as to the effect of relatives and absolutes. Her position was that in this world everything is relative (she seems to believe this absolutely). One of her main points was that the world is in a state of chaos, and as an example she stated the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. This being the case, lets take a look at the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle to see which side it really promotes. First, the word "principle" which in this case, according to the dictionary means, "A rule or law concerning the functioning of natural phenomena or mechanical processes(1)." This sounds pretty absolute to me but, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe it was misnamed. Let us look at the principle itself, "The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa(2)." This also sounds very definite, I don't hear any maybe or could be, it is an absolute statement. Now if it were proof that everything is relative wouldn't it say something more like, "If we could precisely determine a position,considering that there were a position, we probably would have a hard time finding the precise momentum , but who's to say."
I'm not saying that there are no relatives, there are relatives and absolutes just as there are relative and absolute concepts, and thus relative and absolute statements. If I were to say that Salina is close to Kansas City, I would have made a relative statement. From the standpoint of someone in Russia, Salina does seem close to Kansas City. However from the standpoint of someone on a suburb of Kansas City, Salina would seem to be very far away. Now, if I were to say right now that I am in Kansas I would be making an absolute statement that is either true or false. True and false themselves are absolute concepts. If they are relative, then why was Hitler wrong, how could he be wrong. He believed himself to be right. Without absolutes there would be no need for law. If there were no absolutes, how could there be absolute concepts, and if there were no absolute concepts how could there be absolute statements?
Not only does this pattern appear in language but it also appears in math. Though there are variables which can be said to be relative there are also constants which would appear to be parallels with absolutes. Considering that the units and bases are the same, 3=3, It always has and, God willing, always will. The mathematical statement 1+2=3 is also an absolute statement, it says that one plus two absolutely equals three. If the statement were relative it would say one plus two is about three, not equal to it. The equal sign represents an absolute relationship. The equal sign makes math possible and functions solvable. Without the absolutes there would be no study of math. If everything is relative, who's to say that there is such a thing as math.
To measure anything to its exact and perfect dimensions would take an infinite amount of knowledge, something which only God possesses. In the end, relative statements say nothing at all. They are merely a means of conveying absolute and infinite ideas by finite creatures. Being imperfect expressions, they often fail in this respect.
If there were no absolutes there would be no absolute zero, no way to measure anything, no ideas, no right and no wrong. In the end, If there were no absolutes life would not be enjoyable, in fact, there most likely would be no life, but then again, if everything is relative, who's to say?
1: http://www.answers.com/principle&r=67
2: http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p08.htm
If I am wrong please show me where.
James has some good comments on this in the comments below.
posted by Luke @ 8:18 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Wow Luke, very um... ow do i say... confusing lol. Just Kidding I understtod it but, I hate math so....yay for whatever you were saying. Its cool. I dont argue with my teachers....I scared lol. Anyways I am going to church now( absolute) I should be at church till about 13 (relative).
-Derek
Hey, it's me, James, from camp. First of all I don't have your email address. Second of all, you have raised an interesting point. Being a freak about number theory, I have a lot to say on the subject.
A college professor once told his class that there are no absolutes. Their obvious answer was, "Are you absolutely sure." I think this speaks for itself.
I believe that an absolute statement of truth can be made about anything in the universe. This is because God created it and God defines truth in himself absolutely and for all eternity. Right off the bat this gives us the comfort that any laws of science or math that we are aware of now will not change, at least until the end of the world. But even though everything can be described absolutely does not mean that we can do so. For instance, we cannot know the exact width of say, a quarter. Any instrument we use to measure it will have some amount of error, thus, only God knows the absolute width of a quarter. On the other hand, some absolutes we do know, like Christ is fully God and fully man and that 1+1=2.
Really, all absolutes are derived from the perfect knowlege of God. This means there is no knowlege outside of God. Our first knowlege comes from the Bible. Since the Bible tells us that God will always cause the sun and moon to rise and the seasons to come and go, we know that any laws of science that we can prove now will not suddenly cease to be true, they are absolutely true. Also we know from the Bible that we can learn things and trust them to be true. Things that we witness first hand are absolute because God maintains consistancy in His creation. Therefore we see that there are many things we can know absolutely. For example, I am absolutely sure that 1+1=2 in the decimal system and that I went to school today. The first I can prove and the other I witnessed. So absolute knowlege is possible because God's knowlege is perfect and we are created in his image.
In truth then, there are no relatives. God knows everything perfectly and therefore absolutely, so everything can be described in absolute truth. We simply use relatives because our own knowlege is incomplete. We don't know the future so we can't determine when we will go to church or anywhere else for that matter. So we generalize, and say that we will leave at about 9. We don't know absolutely, so we use a relative instead. But for the absolutes we do know we must remember that they are, indeed, absolutes, and no atheist college professors can change that.
Well, thanks for listening to me babble. I hope I helped with the absolute and relative thing. Please email me, Luke, at james_powell_89@hotmail.com and give me your email address so we can stay in touch.
One more thought. First, the Heinsburg Uncertainty Principle applies, if I'm not mistaken, mainly to Quantum Mechanics, not truth in general. Second, God knows both the position and the velocity of every electron in the universe, we, being puny little humans, simply can't measure both at the same time. This one example of an immeasurable truth in no way refutes the countless other things we do know for sure.
Eh, no it's not that simple. The Uncertainty Principle means that it's impossible to know accurately position/velocity. This can be proved by mathematics, a 'perfect' science (absolute). So you will have to invoke something that can do the impossible, God perhaps (no problem, I do believe in God) and make 1+2=4? Oh dear what happens then? My advice: Don't mix science with God. Study all opinions of both and progress them both separately. Clarify yor arguments with what you learn. There are no "this is right, that is wrong" in real life (perhaps that's what your tutor mean't by 'relative'). Oh, and don't get caught up in semantics. God bless, Luke.
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