Q&A: The Senses
The Senses
Question
Just as our senses perceive reality incompletely, does our understanding also grasp reality in an incomplete way?
Do Zeno’s paradoxes prove this, perhaps? Achilles and the tortoise, the moving arrow, and the dichotomy paradox?
Answer
Possibly, but those paradoxes have solutions. Contradictions are impossible. Difficulties and misunderstandings definitely are possible.
Discussion on Answer
I mean: walk half the distance to the destination and stop. Then again, half the remaining distance toward the destination and stop. And so on each time. You’ll never arrive.
What’s there to solve here? I assume that in this superficial and mistaken description you’re referring to the Achilles and the tortoise paradox. There’s nothing there to solve, as you can find with a very brief search online.
I got confused. In your first answer you said — and I quote — “those paradoxes have solutions.” Meaning Zeno’s paradoxes, including Achilles and the tortoise, have solutions. In your second answer you write: “the Achilles and the tortoise paradox. There’s nothing there to solve,” etc. So if there’s nothing there to solve, because the question doesn’t even get off the ground — is the paradox meant to teach us that there are things that are correct in books, in mathematics, in our minds, and other possibilities you probably know of, but in reality they don’t work? That is, on the level of words it works out wonderfully — and nothing more!?
The solution is an explanation of why the question is mistaken. I referred you to the internet.
Let’s simplify it. From your starting point, you always have to walk half the distance toward the destination. How do you solve that?