WITTGENSTEIN

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This statement is a clever way of summarizing the intellectual transformation of Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. It suggests that the later Wittgenstein’s philosophy was made possible because the "middle" Wittgenstein—an often-overlooked transitional phase—questioned the assumptions of his earlier work.

Breaking It Down:

1. Early Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1921)

   • He believed that language mirrors reality in a logical structure.
   • Thought that philosophy's role was to clarify thoughts through logical analysis.
   • Famously concluded with: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”

2. Middle Wittgenstein (“Maybe Not” Phase, 1929–1933)

   • After years away from philosophy, he questioned his earlier ideas.
   • Realized that language is more than just logical representation; it’s shaped by use.
   • This doubt set the stage for his later philosophy.

3. Later Wittgenstein (Philosophical Investigations, 1953, posthumous)

   • Argued that meaning is context-dependent and arises from "language games."
   • Moved away from rigid logic to a more fluid, pragmatic view of language.
   • Philosophy’s role is not to define reality but to clarify how we use words in life.

The "Maybe Not" Moment:

• Wittgenstein’s shift wasn’t abrupt; it involved years of internal struggle.
• His self-criticism led to a profound rethinking of language, mind, and meaning.
• Without questioning himself, he wouldn’t have developed his later, groundbreaking views.

So, the latter Wittgenstein (who revolutionized how we think about language) was only possible because the middle Wittgenstein doubted the early Wittgenstein.

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Ali Binazir, writing for the Huffington Post in 2011, said he was intrigued by the oft-cited statistic, which he had just heard in a TED talk, that the odds of a specific individual being born were about one in 400 trillion.

Even if you just accept that number, beating the odds against your birth would be worth celebrating as the longest of long shots. But Binazir did a little back-of-the-envelope math and came up with even more astonishing odds.

He began by calculating the probability that two specific people – your parents – out of the billions on Earth would meet and have a relationship lasting long enough to have children at around one in 40 million. And you are the result of one particular sperm, which your father would produce 12 trillion of during his reproductive lifetime, meeting one particular viable egg, of which your mother would have had about 100,000.

“So the probability of that one sperm with half your name on it hitting that one egg with the other half of your name on it is one in 400 quadrillion.”

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