Commandments with a Promise
In logic, one form of argument or problem solving is called a hypothetical syllogism. It is an If…then … statement. It takes the forms of “If P, then Q ” where P is the antecedent and q is the consequent, or P is the cause and Q is he effect. The hypothetical syllogism is how science validates or tests a hypothesis or theory or prediction. If P occurs and Q does not occur, then the hypothesis is wrong.
Prediction is a common form of problem solving aided by a lot of experience. For example, if you start your car on a very cold morning and the tire pressure light comes on, you immediately assume that you have a flat tire. You check the tires but thy appear ok. You draw the following possible causes.
1. The light is faulty
2. The cold weather gave a false reading
3. You have a leaky valve.
4. You have a punctured tire causing a slow leak.
We can our convert our hypothesis into a formal argument.
· If the light is faulty then the light will cause the tire pressure light to come on.
· If the weather is cold, the light does not show an accurate reading.
· If the valve is leaking the tire pressure will decrease.
· If the tire is punctured the tire pressure will decrease.
We use hypothetical syllogism every day to solve a multitude of problems. Of course, we don’t think in scientific jargon. We call it common sense. Our brain is so wired that we use scientific methods without understanding science. For example, you may be driving at high speeds on the highway. The car in front of you is traveling 60 miles per hour as clocked on your speedometer. You want to pass him, but there is a curve ahead and a car appears over the hill. You don’t know precisely how far away the curve is nor precisely how fast the oncoming car is moving, but you are confident that you can compute the distance and the speed and pass the car safely. If you were a robot, you would have to work out a very complicated mathematical formula to pass the car, but you are not a robot. You are an experienced driver, and your brain is very sophisticated. Without understanding concomitant variation, you press on the gas pedal just enough to accelerate and pass the car safely. As an experienced driver you do it thousands of times.
Most accidents occur not from miscalculation but from distractions.
We live in a hypothetical world. Our brain functions in a series of if…then propositions. Our uncanny ability to make predictions under high pressures keeps us and others safe.
But we live both in a temporal world and in a spiritual world.
In the temporal world we are bound by the laws of nature. Nature is unforgiving. It is bound by temporal law. Temporal laws are absolute. For example, we cannot cheat the law of gravity or the laws of centrifugal force or the laws of thermodynamics. To survive we must live safely inside the established laws of nature.
But even without a formal knowledge of science, we still survive because even if we cannot put a name to it, we have a good working knowledge of cause and effect. Most of us never dive into a shallow pond. We are all temporal prophets. Science formulates those prophesies into mathematical equations, and they look very smart doing it, receiving Nobel prizes. But we use the same rules they use in navigating our beautiful blue planet.
