Sunday Gathering: Valuing Incompleteness

Despite being frequently misunderstood in its scope and application, Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorems profoundly unsettled mathematics and the broader scientific community by demonstrating that no sufficiently powerful formal system can be both complete and consistent.

In response, some interpreted this result as vindication for alternative forms of “knowing,” including New Age theories of consciousness or theological claims that lie beyond formal proof. But is this interpretation warranted, or does it reflect a category error, mistaking the limits of formal systems for the limits of reason itself? Our speaker, Leader Curt Collier, will address this question and more.

To what extent do humans require certainty in order to function, and to what extent might an acceptance of incompleteness offer a more honest and mature understanding of our universe and our place within it?

This Gathering will be at the meetinghouse and on Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please email admin@ethicalfocus.orgby noon on Friday.