Are you living in the Matrix?

WHO

Hillary Putnam was a prominent American philosopher, known for his influential contributions to the philosophy of mind, language, mathematics, and science. His work spanned across several fields of analytic philosophy, making him one of the most versatile and respected thinkers of the 20th century. Born on July 31, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois, Putnam was raised in a secular Jewish household. His father was a writer and journalist, and the family moved to New York City during his childhood. Putnam studied at the University of Pennsylvania and later at Harvard University, where he earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1951. Putnam held teaching positions at several prestigious universities, including Northwestern University, Princeton University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He spent the majority of his career at Harvard University, where he taught from 1965 until his retirement in 2000.Throughout his career, he maintained a strong presence in the field of analytic philosophy. Analytic philosophy emphasizes clarity, precision, and argumentation, often focusing on language and logical analysis. It developed in the early 20th century, influenced by philosophers like Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and G.E. Moore, as a reaction to more speculative and abstract forms of philosophy, such as idealism or the use of our senses to form beliefs and truths. Analytic philosophy tends to break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable parts and seeks to resolve philosophical issues through logical reasoning and empirical science. It's similar to first principles thinking, where complex problems are broken down into smaller, more manageable parts in order to find a solution or answer. Key areas of analytic philosophy include philosophy of language, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and the philosophy of mind.

What he produced

Renee Descartes, the French philosopher and mathematician who is widely held as the father of modern philosophy and created the rational philosophy known as Cartesian thinking which takes complex problems and breaks them into simple problems. He pioneered an analytical approach that led to the Age of Reason where skepticism and empiricism were paramount over sensory intuition. The Evil Demon Theory is a thought experiment he proposed in his Meditations on First Philosophy. Descartes imagines a powerful, malicious demon who is deceiving him about everything, including his senses, memories, and even seemingly certain truths like mathematics. He writes "I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colours, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams which he has devised to ensnare my judgement. I shall consider myself as not having hands or eyes, or flesh, or blood or senses, but as falsely believing that I have all these things.”

Descartes used the evil demon hypothesis as part of his method of systematic doubt to question all his beliefs and find an indubitable foundation for knowledge. Descartes used the evil demon hypothesis as part of his method of systematic doubt to question all his beliefs and to find an indubitable foundation for knowledge. The evil demon is a thought experiment, not something Descartes actually believed, but a way of questioning all his beliefs about the external world, his body, and even abstract concepts. It serves as a device to push skepticism to its limits and find what can be known with certainty and is similar the Plato’s Cave in exploring epistemological questions of reality and how we know. The evil demon hypothesis guides Descartes to his famous conclusion "I think, therefore I am" (cogito ergo sum), he surmises the fact that an Evil Demon is deceiving him is proof in the reality that he is a thinking human being.

Hilary Putman in his philosophical discussions about skepticism and the nature of meaning came up with an updated version of Descartes thought experiment called the Brain in a Vat. He introduced the idea in his 1981 book, Reason, Truth, and History, to argue against radical skepticism and to explore how language and thought relate to reality.

The thought experiment imagines a scenario where a person's brain is removed from their body and placed in a vat of life-sustaining liquid, with its neurons connected to a supercomputer that simulates reality. The computer creates a virtual reality so convincing that you believe you are still living a normal life in the physical world, even though you are actually just a brain in a vat, experiencing a completely simulated world.

2024-Why you should care

The thought experiment highlights the issues of metaphysics and epistemology, in other words who are we? and how do we know? It has inspired various works of fiction, including "The Matrix" film series. The Matrix movie series explores a dystopian future where humans unknowingly live in a simulated reality created by machines, questioning the nature of reality, free will, and the relationship between mind and technology.

The current state of social networks and the dependence on smart phones pushes the boundaries of what reality is. In addition, algorithms and BOTs (web robots) decide what we see while they interact with us and heighten our biases and misconceptions.

Yuval Noah Harari is Israeli historian, writer and philosopher. In his new book "Nexus", he explores how different societies, and political systems have wielded information to achieve their goals. His new book discusses how technology, especially the expanding influence Artificial Intelligence, can reshape our understanding of reality. He makes the argument that this new technology differs from just being a conventional technological tool like the web to one that has its own agency or decision making which could have a profound influence over mankind.

The Brain in the Vat, like Descartes Evil demon and Plato’s Cave continues to be discussed in relation to new technology like virtual reality and artificial intelligence. This thought experiment remains a powerful tool for exploring fundamental questions about the nature of reality and our ability to know it with certainty.

Like the prisoner that escapes from Plato’s Cave, the dog he knows is a shadow, until he sees a statue of a dog, finally he meets a real dog does, only than does he truly understand the reality given that he has encountered all of his senses. Plato’s student Aristotle in his work, De Anima (On the Soul), describes five primary senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—each of which perceives a specific type of external object. He argued that sensory perception is the first step in the process of gaining knowledge about the world. Could it be trusting our senses in the world of technological advancements is the path to truth?

If Descartes were alive, perhaps, he would reshape his conclusion to deal with the emerging technology to “Cogito et sentio, ergo vivo”, or “I think, and i sense therefore I am alive”.

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

Thank you, Dad, for the gift of curiosity

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.