[MD] The reification issue completely misunderstood

[david buchanan]

“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends upon what we look for. What we look for depends upon what we think. What we think depends upon what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. what we take to be true is our reality.” (Zukow, Gary, 'Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics')

Craig said:
Once we correct the error of “Reality is what we take to be true" we avoid this flawed chain of reasoning.



dmb says:

That's a good point. Reality is not true or false. Ideas and assertions are true or false. True ideas agree with reality, can be put to work in experience. Ideas are put to the test in empirical reality. They grow out of experience and they're made true when they successfully guide further experience. What we take to be "true", then, is not reality itself but simply those concepts that work for particular concrete purposes, those ideas that bring us into a working relationship with the immediate flux of life and/or the conceptual order. False ideas are those that don't work, that lead you into confusion, isolation or even danger. As James and Pirsig both say, there must always be a discrepancy between concepts and reality because concepts are static and reality is dynamic.