Statement by Epimenides: "All Cretans always lie."
Question: Does Epimenides speak the truth?
The paradox of self-reference is obvious. If Epimenides speaks the truth, then his statement is a lie. On the other hand, if Epimenides' statement is true, then Epimenides is lying.
[The Answer:] Obviously, Epimendes' statement contains 0 information. You can believe neither what he says, nor the opposite of what he says.
**
What Langan implicitly does is to expose the assumption behind this paradox that we can know the truth independently of what 'Epimenedes' tells us.
In other words, we can know that 'All Cretans always lie' independently of what any particular Cretan tells us about his nation.
And indeed, in order to believe the truth of any statement from anybody, we must already have made a judgment of whether that source is truthful, or a liar. Without an assumption of truthfulness, meaningful discourse cannot even begin.
An assumption regarding truthfulness therefore underpins all possible human discourse.
Langan goes on to link this to the problem we all have that 'the government' (i.e. The System, including government, corporations, media, and all other major institutions) as of 2022, is not even trying to tell the truth in any of its significant communications; but only and always to manipulate its target audience.
So, clearly we cannot believe anything The System tells us, because we already-know that The System is a liar.
But this does not imply that 'everything they say is a lie'. Nor does it imply that there is a way we can know the truth about any specific proposition.
In a world of systemic dishonesty we do not know enough to say what is truth and which are lies about System statements.
(And The System is making statements directed at us by the thousand - every day, 24/7.)
The correct inference concerning any specific communication from The System is therefore, quite simply, that: System statements contain zero information.
Yet we are almost all of us guilty of trying to sift truth; when the reality is that public discourse contains zero information.
How do we fall into this trap? By attempting to have discourse with liars!
The fact is that all discourse assumes a basic truthfulness - therefore, if we have discourse with liars, we must already have decided that they are basically truthful.
And when 'they' are Not basically truthful - but instead are merely manipulating us - then we have been sucked into their world-of-lies.
We have been trapped-into interacting with zero information!
Therefore, we have-already-been sucked into the world of manipulative lies as soon as we engage in discourse with them!
Certainly, I personally keep falling into that trap... And most people are even worse than I am!
This is a big lesson that Life, 2022 is trying to teach us - and we all need to work harder at learning that lesson.
System communications contain zero information...
So, remember That Fact before you engage with The System...
(Maybe I should make that my (fake-) New Year's resolution!)
(...Despite that I know for sure I will have lapsed from this resolution even before the end of the day; but I will endeavor to recognize my lapse, repent, and affirm that this is what I ought to do.)
