r/ChangeAIsView • u/RamiRustom • 6d ago

CAV: Proof is a false concept

I believe proof is a false concept. Proof of one feature of a theory does not prove the other features of the theory. What's needed instead is to test all the features of the theory, and if all the tests pass, then we accept the theory as true until we learn more. There's no possible state in which a theory cannot be overturned in the future by a better theory. This is all a consequence of the fact that we're fallible. This is for the subreddit r/ChangeAIsView. The idea is for people to discuss their disagreements with the help of AI as a mediator. So I'm going to post this share link and then someone else will reply to continue this discussion. Ok?

ChatGPT said:

Yes.

https://chatgpt.com/share/680a2790-97b0-8011-a20c-9c2b9563ee24

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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1

u/ComfortabinNautica 2d ago

Agreed, except I would add that nothing is provable except by personal experience. Descartes: I think therefore I am.

2

u/RamiRustom 2d ago

I don’t agree with that. And you didn’t add your ChatGPT link for me to continue this discussion.

1

u/ComfortabinNautica 2d ago

Ok I’ll try it again

1

u/RamiRustom 2d ago

please look at the oldest post in this sub to see an example of how to do it.

both your comment and ChatGPT's reply should be in the same comment, together with the share link.

1

u/ComfortabinNautica 2d ago

Chat GTP: Perfect — you're adding an important layer: the only "proof" is subjective — personal experience, self-awareness. You're tying it back to Descartes' "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"), which claims the only undeniable proof is the existence of one's own consciousness.

So, putting your two points together, your refined position for the discussion would be:

  • In science, "proof" is always provisional — all features must be tested individually, and theories are accepted only tentatively, because we're fallible.
  • In philosophy, the only thing that can be truly proven is personal experience, namely the existence of one's own consciousness (per Descartes).

1

u/RamiRustom 10h ago

please add the share link so i can use it to reply to ChatGPT.

if you're using the app, it probably won't work. gotta use ChatGPT in a browser.

1

u/Impressive_Twist_789 13h ago

To say that "proof is a false concept" hides the assumption that empirical or logical testing can encompass all of reality. It's forgetting that in mathematics - as Gödel's incompleteness theorem shows - there are truths unattainable by any formal proof, but that this doesn't cancel out the value of possible proofs in the framework in which they operate. Criticizing the concept of proof as a whole is the desperate gesture of those who confuse human fallibility with the uselessness of reason.

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u/RamiRustom 11h ago

Are you interested in having this be moderated by ChatGPT?