The Limited Logic.

 What is logic? In plain mathematical terms, it is a relationship between variables or constants. Relations like “Greater than”, “Less than” are familiar to everyone. Although Logic has many layers to it, some simple and some complex, it can be established that logic essentially deals with discrimination. We say something is big or small or cold or hot through this discriminatory process itself. So, Logic only deals with more than one entity. Logic cannot exist for Singular entities.

Logic, as it is used in this post, might mean, according to the context, anything from ‘intelligence’, ‘knowledge’, ‘science’, ‘hypothesis’ to even a ‘religion. However, the reader need not bother identifying the usage as it is not so important to know. I urge the reader to just be aware of the fluidity in the usage of the term Logic as opposed to a single general meaning that is usually attributed to it. 

Logic also demands information. No information, no logic. To say if 5 is greater than 6, we need to have prior knowledge of the number line. We should know what comes first on the number line. Only then can we say if 5 is greater or less than 6. It must be verifiable. It should have solid data backing it to be able to prove it.

Apart from Mathematics, there are other kinds of logic. Apple from a tree falls on to earth and not goes into space. Why? Simple Logic: Gravity. Before someone identified this, there might have been speculations of some god trapping things on earth from not reaching the heavens and so on. That is logic too. Logic depends on the data. Now you have God, an Apple and Earth in the data. So, the logic is limited to that data only. If you can include Physics into it, the logic changes itself, as in the case of newton, for example.

To make it clear, let me take another example. In olden days when the knowledge of microorganisms is absent, any illness is thought to be a punishment from the god and it was perfectly logical at that time. Later, we started widening our scope and kept on adding data simultaneously evolving the logic.

So, more data input yields more refined logic. Think about this…Without the knowledge of wires running through the wall connecting the switch and the appliance, it would be utterly illogical to think about operating an appliance by pushing a switch in the wall. Logic is limited. Data limits it.

Can logic be all-pervasive? Or is it possible to procure all the data available in the entire cosmos to generate the ultimate Logic?! Would that not be the logic of life?

In a normal sense of logic, zero and Infinity are two separate things with one being smaller and other indefinite and of course, larger. But, another level of logic suggests that Zero and Infinity are one and the same. Let me explain… All the stars in the sky are floating in apparently nothing, Shunya (Root concept for Zero) which is also infinite and indefinite. With the addition of some more data, this logic may fall too.

Einstein’s Logic

Einstein proposed that time is relative. For him, nothing in the universe is faster than light which is lately being questioned. With that data, he made many mathematical models which are logical only if the data is true. I personally assume that both time and Space are only measuring scales and only Energy is absolute. Using this, I can propose a model too which would sound purely logical. Let me do that now….

Say, two points are separated by 100 metres. If we travel with a speed of 100 metres per minute, we would reach the second point in 1 minute. If the speed is 100 metres per second, we would reach in 1 second. Let us extrapolate this and assume if we could travel at infinite speed. Then, we would reach the second point in Zero time. It means that we are present at both the points at the same time. So, using this logic, if I can say that the whole universe is made of a single particle moving at an infinite speed in all three dimensions simultaneously and hence being present at all the points at the same time by changing its properties as it moves through space. Sounds logical, right?

That is the fallacy of the logic. Depending on the data, anything can be proved. Some of us might have come across a funny mathematical proof where it is proved that Sin x/Six = n. It has a logic too but with unreal and limited data.

Moving with the concept further, most logics we considered science for a long time were proved to be wrong as more data is added. For example, recently while searching for origins of Maida, I came across an interesting article. In that, it is mentioned that scientists of those days considered fibre in the wheat as dangerous as it holds with its essential nutrients without letting our body digesting it. So, they tried to remove the fibre part from wheat to produce Maida. Sounds perfectly logical, right? However, later studies proved that the fibre in wheat is actually good for gut health which adds mass to the food and helps in quicker digestion and better bowel movement. This is logical too.

It is logical to think that sugars lead to weight gain. But, consuming honey with warm water actually helps in weight reduction. The former logic comes from limited data of associating sugars with fat. But, the second logic includes more data like chemical composition, chemical reaction and many complex digestive reactions. So, as data grows, logic shall change. This in itself is a logic.

It is logical to think that clothes dry faster in summer. It comes from linking temperature and evaporation. As we include more variables like pressure, degree of saturation etc., we concluded that the clothes dry quicker in Winter. It is a newer logic now. Is it true for lakes and ponds? No. The variables change there. It is, however, true with Humans, animals and trees. All dry skin problems and wilting leaves problems in winter! Oily skin and Lush green forests in summer.

What we consider logical is bound to change as we more explore nature. It was logical at some time in history that the earth is the centre of the Universe, let alone the solar system. With more data, it could be more than illogical to say now that the earth is at the centre of the universe.

Sadhguru logic

He, in his speech at IIT Madras, told that the water carries memory. It is a logic. However, to a kid like me growing in India, it is not unnatural to me to agree with that. All the stories from childhood speak of sages sprinkling some water on somebody and cursing them. The river Ganga is said to purify you from all the sins as it carries memory from Lord Shiva himself. I also grew in a society where salt or sesame seeds are never transferred hand-to-hand. Instead, they are put on a table or a desk for others to pick it up. Directly handing over these items is believed to bring illness or misfortune to both. That, through this logic, can be understood as memory being transferred via those items. Applying this logic, it is simple to grasp why we are offered with water (Teertha prasadam) that is used to bathe the deities. However, data particular to this belief is yet to be obtained. Only a very few studies started to identify that the water molecules do remember things. Other logics with insufficient data, deny this outright.

See, when sufficient data is put, whether right or wrong, any logic can be deduced. I am not in support of Sadhguru’s words on water per se. I only mentioned it because, this particular thing gave me enough thought that inspired me to write this blog.

From this, we can also tell that the existing scientific findings are bound to change in the future as more and more information is collected. We have innumerable examples to support this argument. The JJ Thompson’s model of Atom, The Rutherford’s Planetary model and many others, just to mention. Of course, that is the whole point of science, to evolve! Somethings that are now considered unscientific could take place in scientific journals in the future.

Moreover, what logic currently explains the existence? What is the logic for all of the universe? What logic can explain life? What is the logic behind thinking for that matter? (Here, Logic may refer to science or religion or knowledge etc.)

So, now, what is wrong with all this? There is absolutely nothing wrong about any of it. Every logic whether bad or good contributes something to the science. The problem is only with the people who are not ready to adapt to changes and those who cannot identify the limitations of the logic.

Every generation, as I like to think, had almost the same proportions of Orthodox community within the society which sticks to the obsolete logics and make life miserable to both themselves and others. It is not just true with Religious communities. It is also true with the scientific community. Some stubbornly believe that nothing other than what it is now is possible in the future.

So, be open to all the possibilities and not be stubborn with beliefs. Always be aware of the possibility of the impossible. Because, impossible is only defined by the limits of “your Logic”. (for example, It is impossible for a person from 1000 AD to think of speaking to another person thousands of miles away without any physical connection)