Why Determinacy Is the Prerequisite for Perception and Understanding

Abstract

This paper argues for one proposition: Determinacy is the prerequisite for perception and understanding. The argument unfolds in four layers: (1) Perception requires determinacy—perception is the convergence of multi-channel cross-validation; if the results of cross-validation were not repeatable, perception could not form stable content. (2) Understanding requires determinacy—understanding is built upon laws; laws are built upon repeatability; repeatability is built upon determinacy. (3) Science requires determinacy—experimental repeatability, theoretical predictive power, and verifiability of measurements all presuppose determinacy. (4) Indeterminacy/incompleteness are descriptions of cognitive boundaries, not negations of the world itself—Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Gödel's incompleteness theorems are both boundaries related to cognitive capacity discovered within a determinate framework, not negations of determinacy itself. This paper does not attempt to "prove" that the world is determinate—because determinacy is not a proposition to be proven, but a presupposed prerequisite. What this paper attempts to do is: point out the existence of this prerequisite, and explain why without it, perception, understanding, and science could not hold.