How does one ever KNOW something? Is it possible to "prove" something is true/false?

How does one KNOW something for a surity?

Is any "fact" really fact?

For example,

You are in a closed room with 1 door with somebody. You tell him "How do you know I exist?"

He says "Prove to whom? Me or you?"

Say, "Just yourself."

He says "I can see you! You are right in front of me, so you must exist."

You tell him, "Put these headphones on." (Give him headphones, and whisper, since no headphones are 100% soundproof) - "now prove I exist."

He says, "But I can still see you, although I cannot hear you, you are still in front of me."

Walk out the one door and close it behind you (must be a solid door, no windows). Now say to him (a little louder), "Prove I exist!"

He may say, "I could hear you speak just then! You must exist!"

Walk back in the room, and close the door behind you. Instruct him to close his eyes. Then, put your hand on his shoulder, and say again "Prove I exist."

"Why, you are touching me. I can feel you, so I know you exist. Plus, I heard you."

Now step back 10 feet.

Tell him to open his eyes, and remove his earplugs/headphones. Say, "When I say so, close your eyes, put the headphones back on, and prove I exist."

Say now, "Okay, now."

He pauses for a moment and realizes he has no way to prove you exist. He cannot feel you, smell you, (taste you?), see you, or hear you.

He says, "I heard you speak. You must exist."

Tell him loudly enough to hear your instructions: "Okay, take off the headphones and open your eyes."

Explain that "You did hear me speak, but not presently. I could have vanished somehow at any moment after you heard me, silently enough for you not to know, so you cannot know if I exist at that present time without seeing me, hearing me, or touching me."

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In other words, our 5 main sense can lie. They can be decieving. They can be mettled with using drugs, alcohol, physical damages, or brain damage. Science can alter our senses. Physical things and situations can disable senses.

But what's one thing that all humans have that can't be altered using science, physical damages, mental damages, etc... something scientists don't even know how they work exactly. Brain-controlled? Maybe, but how come we feel them in our heart? Heart-controlled? No, it just pumps blood. So what is it?

I'll leave this thread open for you to figure it out (shouldn't be too hard) - essentially, I see posts like this:

So I want to start this thread: how can anybody know for a 100% surity that something IS or IS NOT? What is one thing we have that doesn't prove that ANYTHING is or is not, but anything important, it can confirm to us.... numbers can lie, sources and graphs can lie, but one thing within us cannot.

C'mon, this should be easy by

 

I'm not following this.

 

You need to figure out what "them" and "it" (in the last question) is.... then it will make more sense.

 

Does not make any sense to me at all.

- MENJ

 

His questions go into Epistemology. Few people even look into this or even know the theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology

 

nothing ever does..................

 

You've posted in the wrong forum.. unless this is actually the "Philosophy" forum.

 

They're fairly connected issue. Philosophy and politics are joined at the hip in ways.

Unfortunately a huge percentage of the people that are into politics almost never venture into philosophy. The don't review such simple concepts as Epistemology, and it shows.

 

I'm trying to make a point w/ this. If you even read my OP, you would notice that I connect it to politics.

 

oh yeah this is matt again (gonna be rude i think)
Politics is connected to philosphy in many ways,for example what is a party manifesto (a philosophy)

 

Opinions? Or emotions? Or is it the soul?

 

Bingo! Emotions/impressions/non-physical feelings

Tis all that is left...

 

OK I'll accept it's connected to politics then. So what was the point you was making? I thought the ideology that nothing can ever be proved was farily obvious

 

I like interviews given to Ayn Rand about Epistemology. It's an interesting book, which might address your view of 'nothing can ever be proved'.

Wiki gives a somewhat descent description of her thoughts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivist_epistemology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Objectivist_Epistemology

Personally, I like the quote by Charleston Heston,

'There's just one reality left: It is here, it is now....you get a hold of that or you might as well be dead.'

 

Thats true, but thinking so will bring you nowhere. However, if they don't lie 100%, you can probably discover that something is wrong

 

True, but how do you know they aren't lying?