Thinking must never submit itself, neither to a dogma, nor to a party, nor to a passion, nor to an interest, nor to a preconceived idea, nor to whatever it may be, if not to facts themselves, because, for it, to submit would be to cease to be.
La pensée ne doit jamais se soumettre, ni à un dogme, ni à un parti, ni à une passion, ni à un intérêt, ni à une idée préconçue, ni à quoi que ce soit, si ce n’est aux faits eux-mêmes, parce que, pour elle, se soumettre, ce serait cesser d’être.
— Henri Poincaré, Nov 1909 Brussels
VUB alumnus ? :)
Is it possible to think without a preconceived worldview? There are a few basic ideas that it is impossible to logically prove or disprove, yet they influence our most basic reasoning.
For example, are there absolutes? We approach logic with the basic belief that if a=b and b=c then a=c. Can we prove that without first believing it?
Thoughts?