LOGIC : A Critical View
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1942 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
G. BATESON states that “:Logic is a poor model of cause and effect ”(1979, p. 58)
He observes that we are mistaken when “we use the same words to talk about logical sequences and about sequences of cause and effect”(Ibid)
In fact, the difference is that the cause-effect sequence exist in the time dimension , while the logical one is a timeless abstraction. Or, in other words, the cause-effect sequence is considering events , and thus energetic transformation , while the logical sequence is merely a quite limited- and in a sense, static- model of linear causality . In particular, it ignores closed loops brought about by feedbacks .
This is noteworthy, since we had to wait until the 20th C. to discover that the fabled implicit contradiction in the famous sentence: “Epimedes the Cretan says that all Cretans are liars”, contains in fact a feedback which is the cause of the irreductible ambiguity .
See also
Types (theory of logical)