Should anyone be deemed arrogant because they refuse to accept 2+2=5?

Question

THIS IS NOT A QUESTION ABOUT MATH!!
I meant this in the context of society which maintains assumptions which cannot be rationally supported.

Super Ruper: Which group of people are you referring to? Please specify, I don't like making assumptions.

Parallax: Do you mean atheists prefer to believe 2+2=5? Odd! Because if you have to believe 2+2=5, I can't be an atheist (or anything else that requires it).

IT SEEMS MANY OF YOU CAN'T READ!!

I said if the "REFUSE to accept". It seems that those who have not read this question properly, are the very one's who would call others arrogant. Simply because you didn't pay attention to the details.

Philip H: There is nothing metaphorical about my question, or those who demand the denial fact to support a dominant assumption maintained by society. Case in point: The demand under punishment of death to accept "the world is flat".

Believe me, there is no metaphor here!

Would any of you preferred that I had asked;

Should anyone be deemed arrogant because they refuse to accept anything as true, which is factually incorrect?

Rainbow: When those who presented scientific fact that the earth/world was round, and others that the earth traveled around the sun, both of these facts were met with punishment of death for their being taught.

And the most interesting thing of all, was that it was those who claimed to have absolute truth, who were decisively wrong.

THE WORLD DIDN'T BECOME ROUND BECAUSE MEN SAID SO!!
IT WASN'T DISCOVERED BY FAITH.

The evidence to know that the earth was round, always existed. But myth and religion required the maintenance of the nonfactual belief to the contrary.

It all boils down to, "what are you willing to sacrifice for telling the TRUTH!

Saberchick: If you can read, maybe you should reconsider asking about my finances!

I am not the one demanding that 2+2=5!
You need to ask yourself why did you assume that.

IF YOU LIKED THIS QUESTION, PRESS THE STAR BUTTON/ICON BELOW.

Tera: When a society is confronted by those who refuse to accept the popular opinion, depending on the perceived need of that society to maintain that belief, no amount of HUMILITY will prevent those who are telling the truth from being LABELED as ARROGANT!

Please read my comment/request above.

Lizzieeeee: THERE WAS NO FACTUAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT BELIEVING THE EARTH WAS FLAT!!
What you're speaking of is "observational presumption". To believe that something is true because it is observed, or false because it is (can)not observed. There never was a fact of the earth being flat, for there to exist any evidence to support it. It was an assumption based entirely on an erroneous observation. Only facts are capable of evidence. Fallacious opinions are supported only and entirely by conjecture.

Tera: This is just one example of what I was talking about.

Btw, does your check book balance? Or are you over drawn? I just thought I'd ask...LOL.

The person who asked this, somehow assumed I was insisting on others accepting 2+2=5. At least it seems that wasy, Why else would they ask about the nature of my finances? As though I should be prone to error. There are others who were just as erroneous in approaching this question.

KA1227: Might it be that the whole is simply missing components (parts) which cannot be separated without the irrecoverable losses/effects of entropy on their dissociation?

Answer 1

No, of course not. In fact, the proponents of 2 + 2 = 5 are the most arrogant because they rely solely on what they believe and not on empirical evidence.

Answer 2

I don't like the initial question with the math in it, so I'm going with this one:

"Should anyone be deemed arrogant because they refuse to accept anything as true, which is factually incorrect?"

No, a person who refuses to accept something that is clearly a falsehood shouldn't be labeled as arrogant.

But we must be careful in what we consider "falsehoods" or "truths". As your question pointed out, there have been many situations in which society considered something to be a truth, and it later turned out to be a falsehood, but the people who had originally supported the REAL truth (for example, people believing the world is round) had already been killed or whatnot.

Above all, do no harm to one another. If another person or a group of people believes something different than we do (even if it is a downright falsehood) let's leave them alone. We can just make fun of them while we're drinking our lattes.

Answer 3

I don't think this question makes any sense, or at least it doesn't if one reads your additional information. To answer the straightforward question, no. It would seem that they were ignorant, because it is, by definition, true that 2 + 2 = 4. It is a truth which doesn't require empirical evidence because it is an a priori truth - it can be discovered without empirical investigation.

You say "Should anyone be deemed arrogant because they refuse to accept anything as true, which is factually incorrect?" This statement, combined with your question, implies that you think 2 + 2 = 4 is factually incorrect.

Answer 4

No, a person isn't arrogant because they refuse to accept that 2+2=5; they're smart. It's basic math; 2+2=4.

Given that you said this is not a metaphor, then this only leaves a literal translation, hence the true math equation.

Before you liken this to "the world is flat" analogy , I proved to myself when I was very, very young that 2+2=4. People who believed the world was flat had to go on faith whether it was or not.

Answer 5

No, I would need several other examples of behavior before deeming a person arrogant.

But I do want to assert that 2 + 2 = 5 is a mathematical representation of Synergy - a phenomenon in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

EDIT: That is an explanation worthy of consideration.
I'm curious, have you ever encountered a conundrum that defies logic? Something which you experienced as real, but reason told you it was impossible?

Answer 6

Nope, but they should be deemed retarded if they do accept it.

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The best way to answer that would be.... who cares? Anyone can deem me to be whatever the heck they want, but it will never change the truth of things.

Port... all you have to do is stand your ground. NEVER be sorry for who you are, what you want, or what you believe. A good woman will respect that far more than some ppussy whipped guy who does whatever he's told. It's totally possible to stand strong without being a jerk about it. If SHE wants to act like a 7 year old, send her to time out in the corner. The doghouse is for dogs.

Answer 7

No, but a lot of women call men arrogant (amongst other things, like selfish or bad listeners) when they won't agree that 2 + 2 = 5. I'm not saying that this happens all the time with a lot of women, but at least every 3 - 6 months in the average marriage, the man will have to agree with complete B.S. or he'll end up in the doghouse.
Edit: B Dorian, I like the cut of your jib. Thank you.

Answer 8

I don't think anyone should be deemed arrogant for their beliefs. The arrogance starts when people begin to pressure other people to believe the same thing because they think their belief is superior. The people who think that 2+2=5 are entitled to their belief, same as those who don't believe that. The most important thing is to know that your belief is not necessarily superior and that people who believe otherwise should not be ridiculed, because as you pointed out, what is considered to be true by the general public can change.

Answer 9

Well, if they know 2+2=4, and they refuse to accept anything told to them differently, I suppose that would mean they are confident in their knowledge and beliefs...not necessarily arrogant, unless of course they are acting that way about it. It's one thing to be right (and be the only one who is), and another to be arrogant. People can be humble if they choose to be. It's a matter of personal choices, probably influenced by one's personality, upbringing, personal values and maturity. Einstein was laughed at in his day for some of his ideas, and he did not react with arrogance to those who mocked him. It seems he never quit being motivated to find evidence for his theories, and I don't think it was arrogance that drove him to do so...it was a quest for truth and enlightenment.

EDIT: I read your notation...and yes, there will be some who may think of this person as "arrogant", but what really matters more is how he sees himself. If Einstein had allowed popular opinion of him (his school teachers thought he sucked at math and science...lol! and later he was viewed as a "crackpot"...) if he allowed others' opinions to defeat him, he would never have continued on his path. I don't know if society really views such people as arrogant, or if they just see them as lunatics....or ignorant, or rebels...it seems society takes an arrogant view of those whom they do not agree with.
What I'm saying is, society itself can be "arrogant"...or at the least, extraordinarily close-minded. There is no real defense against this except to have confidence on the inside, persistence, courage, and a thirst for knowledge and truth that can't be defeated by nay-sayers.

NOTE:

Shingoshidao: is it not "arrogance" to react to so many people answering this question with the statement "IT SEEMS MANY OF YOU CAN'T READ!" ??? Perhaps we're all as ignorant as you seem to imply, OR, maybe we just don't understand the question because of the way you worded it? It's not very nice to insult everyone who is trying to (in good faith) answer your question. Just a thought.

Answer 10

No, they should be deemed arrogant if they refuse to accept that 2+2=4.