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Memories of the 28th Century

Miscellaneous thoughts about miscellaneous matters

  1. Empty Barrels

    by , 06-26-2019 at 01:41 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    Empty Barrels Make the Most Noise.

    For something else that I am writing, I have been thinking about evolution of humans. It is somewhat surprising that intelligence didn’t increase in similar amounts to all people during evolution, but has been noted that there is considerable breadth in the range of "normal intelligence".

    This came to mind in regard to drunks, bums, petty criminals, the mentally ill, and the underclass, those who are outside the economy ...
  2. The Joy of False Premises

    by , 02-05-2019 at 05:30 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    A couple of days ago I was involved in an excellent example of the problem with false premises. If one selects the premises of an argument properly, then one can prove any argument using pseudo-logical methods. That is why using false premises is a logical fallacy.

    I was just trying to provide some interesting small talk and mentioned how I had again found a phishing site that was using one of my books as bait for people to leave their credit card information. I recounted informing ...
  3. Delusion in the White House

    by , 12-20-2018 at 08:11 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    Maybe it’s just the zeitgeist of this days, but I have noticed more and more people showing signs of delusional thinking. It isn’t just a few people with schizophrenic symptoms, but even the present occupant of the Oval Office shows signs of delusional thinking. It might have been a mistake to mention schizophrenia, because not of the delusional people have that problem; although it is difficult to tell without careful observation and analysis. And while belief in conspiracy theories can indicate ...

    Updated 12-29-2018 at 10:54 AM by PeterL

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  4. Appeal to Authority

    by , 03-23-2017 at 06:25 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    This is another in my occasional series of logical fallacies. Appeal to Authority (Latin argumentum ad verecundiam) is quite popular, and some people think that it operates as a trump card. If old So-and-So says so, then it must be true. Well, that's not how one wins an argument; the one with the best facts and the logic wins. Even if your authority is a recognized authority on the subject at hand you have to present the data and the logical argument, but it is more common for people to cite an ...
  5. Imagination and Delusion

    by , 11-09-2016 at 07:51 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    Or
    Why do people believe irrational and delusion things?

    This is closely related to the difference between fiction and non-fiction, and I am completely comfortable discussing that. Fiction is that which we want to put forth as being other than an accurate description of the world. Fiction includes things that are completely made up, fantasy, dreams, etc. Fiction can also be a slightly altered version of what we see in the world that is altered for dramatic effect or some other ...

    Updated 11-09-2017 at 08:27 AM by PeterL

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