The world is flooded with lies at the moment. This would not have happened if babies did not grow up; that is, if we all remained babies. Nobody lies to babies. Babies can’t lie; they can’t tell the truth either; they can do neither because they are still learning how to speak. Grownups lie but not to babies. If there were no grownups, there would not have been any liars. And all would be well …
Of course, this will never happen. All babies grow up; there will always be lies and liars. We can only hope there will be less of both.
Why is it possible to lie? Why are there lies in the first place? Babies cannot lie because they can’t speak. To lie, we need language. Is language invented so that we can tell lies? That would be odd; isn’t it?
Is language invented so that we can tell the truth? But if it is, why don’t we all tell the truth always?
Language is invented to tell the truth. We see this in the development of scientific languages. In science, the language evolves as the subject evolves. Working scientists tell the truth as matter of course. (If you were solving a cipher, you would not all of a sudden start telling yourself lies either.) They know that truths lead to more truths. So yes, we should always tell the truth unless there are special reasons not to.
But, some will ask, why is it possible to lie in the place? It’s all very well that we have a tool that enables us to tell the truth; but why should the same tool also enables us to lie? A pair of scissors is single purposed. It is used to cut. You can not use it to join. Why can’t language be single purposed too? Only to tell the truth and not to lie.
The answer to this question should be easy to arrive at once we understand that learning a language is cryptanalysis, and trial and error is unavoidable in this very process. Before you can arrive at the truth, unavoidably you will have to dismiss many, many errors.
The world is flooded with lies at the moment. This would not have happened if babies did not grow up; that is, if we all remained babies. Nobody lies to babies. Babies can’t lie; they can’t tell the truth either; they can do neither because they are still learning how to speak. Grownups lie but not to babies. If there were no grownups, there would not have been any liars. And all would be well …
Of course, this will never happen. All babies grow up; there will always be lies and liars. We can only hope there will be less of both.
Why is it possible to lie? Why are there lies in the first place? Babies cannot lie because they can’t speak. To lie, we need language. Is language invented so that we can tell lies? That would be odd; isn’t it?
Is language invented so that we can tell the truth? But if it is, why don’t we all tell the truth always?
Language is invented to tell the truth. We see this in the development of scientific languages. In science, the language evolves as the subject evolves. Working scientists tell the truth as matter of course. (If you were solving a cipher, you would not all of a sudden start telling yourself lies either.) They know that truths lead to more truths. So yes, we should always tell the truth unless there are special reasons not to.
But, some will ask, why is it possible to lie in the place? It’s all very well that we have a tool that enables us to tell the truth; but why should the same tool also enables us to lie? A pair of scissors is single purposed. It is used to cut. You can not use it to join. Why can’t language be single purposed too? Only to tell the truth and not to lie.
The answer to this question should be easy to arrive at once we understand that learning a language is cryptanalysis, and trial and error is unavoidable in this very process. Before you can arrive at the truth, unavoidably you will have to dismiss many, many errors.