Christ said that unless we build our house on rock, the storm will come, and the house will collapse. Like so, civilisation and a civilised society are built on truth.
The Ten Commandments of Logic
- Ad hominem — Thou shall not attack the person’s character, but the argument.
- Straw man fallacy — Thou shall not misrepresent or exaggerate a person’s argument in order to make them easier to attack.
- Hasty generalization — Thou shall not use small numbers to represent the whole.
- Begging the question — Thou shall not argue thy position by assuming one of its premises is true.
- Post Hoc/False cause — Thou shall not claim that because something occurred before, it must be the cause.
- False dichotomy — Thou shall not reduce the argument down to two possibilities.
- Ad ignorantum — Thou shall not argue that because of our ignorance, claim must be true or false.
- Burden of proof reversal — Thou shall not lay the burden of proof onto him that is questioning the claim.
- Non sequitur — Thou shall not assume “this” follows “that” when it has no logical connection.
- Bandwagon fallacy — Thou shall not claim that because a premise is popular, therefore it must be true.
Logical fallacies
When developing an academic argument, it is important to make sure that you are not drawing conclusions based on a flawed application of logic. Watch out for the following logical fallacies:- Missing the Point: The premises of an argument do support a particular conclusion—but not the conclusion that the arguer actually draws.
- Hasty Generalisations: Making assumptions about a whole group or range of cases based on a sample that is inadequate.
- Post-hoc (after the event): Assuming that because B comes after A, A caused B.
- Straw Man: The arguer sets up a weak version of the opponent’s position and tries to score points by knocking it down.
- Slippery Slope: The arguer claims that a sort of chain reaction, usually ending in some dire consequence, will take place, but there’s really not enough evidence for that assumption.
- Weak Analogy: Many arguments rely on a comparison between two or more things. If the two things that being compared aren’t really alike in the relevant respects, the argument becomes flawed.
- Ad hominem (against the person): The arguer attacks his or her opponent instead of the opponent’s argument.
- Bandwagon: The arguer tries to convince the audience to do or believe something because everyone else (supposedly) does.
- Either/or: The arguer sets up the situation so it looks like there are only two choices. The arguer then eliminates one of the choices, so it seems that we are left with only one option.
- Circular Argument: This restates the claim in another way rather than actually proving it.
- Red Herring: Partway through an argument, the arguer goes off on a tangent, raising a side issue that distracts the audience from what’s really at stake.
- Ad Populum (to the people): An appeal to positive (such as patriotism, religion, democracy) or negative (such as terrorism or fascism) concepts rather than the real issue at hand.
See philosophy folder for more information
Wisdom
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A Passage from Apocalypto movie 2006 - 2013-01-11
And a man sat alone.
Drenched deep in sadness..
And all the animals drew near to him and said:
"We do not like to see you so sad ..."
"Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it."
The Man said: "I want to have good sight."
The vulture replied: "You shall have mine."
The Man said: "I want to be strong."
The jaguar said:
"You shall be strong like me."
Then the man said: " I long to know the secrets of the earth."
The serpent replied: "I will show them to you."
And so it went with all the animals.
And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give ...
he left.
Then the owl said to the other animals:
"Now the man knows much and is able to do many things ...
The deer said: "The Man has all that he needs."
"Now his sadness will stop."
But the owl replied: "No."
"I saw a hole in the Man..."
"Deep like a hunger he will never fill ...
"It is what makes him sad and what makes him want."
"He will go on taking and taking ...
"Until one day the World will say:
"I am no more and I have nothing left to give."جلس رجلٌ لوحده
و قد امتلأ قلبه حزنا
و اقتربت كل الحيوانات منه وقالت:
إنه ليجزننا أن نراك حزينا هكذا...
أطلب مننا ماشئت و ستحصل عليه
قال الرجل: "أريد أن يكون نظري جيدا"
قال العقاب: "سأعطيك نظري"
قال الرجل: "اريد أن اكون قويا"
قال الفهد: "سوف تصبح قويا مثلي"
ثم قال الرجل: " أتمنى ان اعرف اسرار الأرض"
ردت عليه الأفعى:"سأريك إياها"
هكذا استمر الحال مع كل الحيوانات
وبعدما امتلك كل الهبات التي يمكنه اخذها من الحيوانات... رحل
بعدها قالت البومه لباقي الحيوانات:
"الأن يعرف الإنسان العديد من الأشياء و يمكنه فعل الكثير..."
قالت الغزالة: "يملك الرجل كل مايحتاجه"
"لذا لن يشعر بالحزن مرة اخرى"
ولكن البومة ردت قائلة:"كلا"
"لقد رأيت فجوة في داخل الإنسان...
"عميقة بعمق الجوع الذي لن يستطيع إشباعه...
"وهذه الفجوة هي السبب وراء حزنه و رغباته
"سيستمر هذا الرجل بالأخذ و الأخذ...
"إلى إن يأتي وقت يقول فيه العالم:
"لقد إنتهيت...لأ أملك شيئا لإعطيك إياه"
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Westworld, Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins) episode 5 - 2016-12-03
When I was a boy, my brother and I wanted a dog, so our father took in an old greyhound...
A greyhound is a racing dog. Spends its life running in circles, chasing a bit of felt made up like a rabbit.
One day, we took it to the park. Our dad had warned us how fast that dog was, but.. we couldn't resist. So, my brother took off the leash, and in that instant, the dog spotted a cat. I imagine it must have looked just like that piece of felt.
He ran. Never saw a thing as beautiful as that old dog... running. Until, at last, he finally caught it. And to the horror of everyone, he killed that little cat. Tore it to pieces. Then he just sat there, confused.
That dog had spent its whole life trying to catch that... thing. Now it had no idea what to do.
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Luciano Pavarotti (from It's A Man's Man's Man's World
The man pursues the power
But he does not know
That the great limit against himself
Will appear
In his palm he makes an idea
That does not live
That he wished in his fantasy
But he does not remember that
Nothing makes sense
If he lives only for himself