Alright, I finally figured out what Dr. Giffin did that so irked me in his facts explanation: He used the word "facts" as "statements" instead of "truth."
Before his explanation he explained that facts were scientific pieces of data. Therefore, anyone listening very closely would understand what he meant. Unfortunately, I think most students in the class wrote down "facts are relative" or something of that ilk and left it at that. Unfortunately, the common connotation of facts is not "statements." For example:
Person 1: The sun goes around the earth.
Person 2: Is that a fact?
Person 1: Yes, but it isn't true.
As you see, this conversation wouldn't happen in most instances. Everyone understands and accepts that facts are generally truth to the extent that we can use them interchangably. In short, using words in their most literal meaning is often confusing and misleading.
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Yes, that was a rather confusing lecture. And that's why math is awesome--it's objective not subjective. I know for a fact that my linear algebra teacher won't go off on the "relativity of facts."
ReplyDeleteDuncan, I'm now more confused than I was before.
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