Language

Is it possible to realize something which is not true? Or do all realizations point to a truth? For instance, if I realize that "life is short" does it really imply that life is really short? Or is that realization just a form of value-judgment and does not have anything to do with truth? Thanks for this very helpful site. Keep up the good work and the spread of wisdom.

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Thank you for your question. I'd say it is not possible to realize something that is not true, and this is due simply to the meaning of the word 'realize'. This word is what semanticists fall "factive", meaning that the sentence following it must be true for the entire sentence in which it occurs to be true. So if 'John realizes that A' is true, then A must be true as well. In this respect 'realize' is like 'know': If John knows that A, then A must be true also. Of course, the fact that you can't realize what is not true, doesn't mean that your new view is without value. So suppose that life is really long and not short. Then you can't realize that life is short, but on the other hand, you can come to be convinced that life is short (because 'convinced' is not a factive), and that might prompt you to live each subsequent day to the fullest. If so, more power to you!

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