Thinking the True

A colleague of mine just asked me about those national flags still hanging in trees outside – why are they still there? The celebration is past for some time now. And if they are left in that street, why are they not left in front of out workplace? I asked, if there had been any flags at all in front of us, and he said the crucial saying:I think so!

..So, you understand, my dear reader, I was left with no choice – I had to ask him the next question:So, do you think they were there, or were they actually there?

I don’t remember what the answer was, but it doesn’t matter now. I started to figure out, how on can actually answer such a question of mine. Let’s assume one is sure he knows the fact flags were there. Although his belief is very strong, it’s a subjective assumption anyway, so he has to make the answer this way: `I think I know`, which is actually closer to the answer `I think they were there` than to the answer `They actually were there`. He maybe knows it, but his words are just what he thinks, so how to say it correctly? It seems to be impossible.

OK, forget about it, I just can’t explain the phenomenon! 😉