Notes

In mathematics, many number-theory proofs stipulate "if the Riemann hypothesis holds". The Riemann hypothesis would seem to most non-mathematicians to be a rather esoteric thing, surely not something that supports much of modern mathematics. In very simple lay terms, it states that there is a particular pattern to the way prime numbers are distributed on the number line. Of course, it states this in a much more precise way, in the arcane language of number theory. But that's the gist of it.

Philosophy also has a stipulation, although usually not so clearly stated. It is "objective reality". You don't get far without stipulating objective reality. Of course, there is solipsism, the belief system that says that you are all that exists; that everything is the product of your mind, your imagination. Sure, it is an internally consistent belief system, unassailable. I find it very unsatisfying, and while I recognize it, I don't embrace it. I doubt that it has any true adherents, especially sane ones.

Most of us accept that there exists an objective reality, one each of us perceives, albeit differently. We believe that there is something real, in which we participate. Each of us believes that others consider us to be part of reality, and vice-versa. This is what I mean when I say "objective reality". It is this that I stipulate, usually implicitly, here explicitly.

Each of us is different, and part of that difference is our place within reality. We exist at different locations and times. Further, our senses are different -- we see things differently; feel, smell, hear things differently. Within our separate heads, we construct models of reality, based upon what we sense, so our models are different.

We use language to communicate, and in that communication, we rely upon some commonality between our respective models. As we communicate, those models adapt to each other, and in doing so become more similar. That, essentially, is what the word "communication" means.