UFOs as “Entscheidungsproblem”

Mathematician David Hilbert’s “entscheidungsproblem” (decision problem) applies to algebraic and calculus conundrums mainly, but also applies to the UFO phenomenon: results cannot be conclusively proved, which Kurt Gödel established with his paper, “On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems.”

Hilbert and Gödel determined that what seems logical from outside a system was not necessarily true (or logical) within a system itself.

UFOs as a systematic phenomenon can be seen in that same light; that is, UFOs may appear to be real from a vantage point apart (outside) of the phenomenon but from within the phenomenon itself may not be real at all, or more “real” than anyone can imagine.

Carl Jung’s view that flying saucers are primarily a psychological manifestation doesn’t work here, as that view is from without the phenomenon but pretends to gather its truth from within the phenomenon, where conclusions can’t be made.

(Jung’s view from within is a chimera: a view from outside the phenomenon that appears to be from inside the phenomenon but is hardly that at all.)

The problem is unresolvable since no one can get inside the phenomenon (and never has been able to do so) to determine what the phenomenon’s real parameters are.

Looking at UFOs from outside has allowed for myriad conjectures as to what the things are.

And “truths” of what UFOs are have been argued, and determined, by various factions of the UFO community.

But such “truths” are not the real truth as such truths are not provable (or determinable) from within the phenomenon itself, which has remained beyond the scrutiny of observers and UFO investigators.

The brilliant recluse, Jacques Vallee, the intellectual Jerry Clark, and the highly intelligent Stanton Friedman can pose hypotheses about what UFOs are, and those hypotheses can be seen as true by others looking at UFOs outside the phenomenon itself.

But without access to the inside of the phenomenon, the “system” as it were, UFOs remain undecidable, and present the “entscheidungsproblem.”

No logic or (true) reality can be determined from within a system (UFOs) itself, and any truth determined from without a system (UFOs) has got to be false by virtue of a lack of an ability to encompass a total truth of a system, mathematical or otherwise.

This means that the totality of the UFO truth is beyond the ken of anyone, even those who (some named above) are skilled in logic, intelligence, and even Jungian intuition.

Mathematical truth, as noted, cannot be encompassed by even powerful logical systems [The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing by Martin Davis, W. W, Norton, N.Y., 2000, Page 118].

And UFO truth also cannot be encompassed by powerful logical systems (take note Richard Hall) so conjecture is futile, as it has been and will be.

Thus, pursuing the phenomenon is an act of folly, a madness that even Jung underestimated.