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Memories of the 28th Century

Miscellaneous thoughts about miscellaneous matters

  1. Shaving with Occam's Razor

    by , 02-26-2014 at 08:36 AM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    I was wondering whether the willingness or capacity to believe conspiracy theories and similar foolishness is a matter of education, or if it is inbred. Perhaps there is an innate predisposition to accept such things that needs to be triggered by something to become active. If the latter is the case, then many or even most people will erroneously think that the trigger is the cause, rather than just setting off the underlying condition. (This is a parallel with how many people think that smoking ...
  2. How to Lose an Argument Without Really Trying

    by , 01-07-2014 at 10:09 AM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    Or
    Logical fallacies for humor and for destroying arguments



    For the last couple of decades I have wasted a huge amount of time on online forums and such. I have found myself in illogical discussions frequently, because people often use logical fallacies. I can accept that now and then; most people use fallacious reasoning on occasion, sometimes deliberately and sometimes in ignorance; but many people don't even notice their fallacies when the fallacies are ...

    Updated 01-07-2014 at 10:42 AM by PeterL

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  3. Freer Will?

    by , 04-12-2013 at 03:08 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    I was wondering whether “free will” exists, or if that is just another of many pleasant fictions that humans have made up to keep going. While it feels like I am actually deciding what I do, I know and can readily see in some cases, that my decisions are results of things that came before, just more links in the chain of cause and effect. The question of whether humans have free will or are directed by destiny has never been answered with certainty. Philosophers have long said that people create ...

    Updated 04-12-2013 at 05:10 PM by PeterL

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  4. Grammar, Ignorance, Logic, and the Illuminati

    by , 03-24-2013 at 01:24 PM (Memories of the 28th Century)
    Formal logic was developed from natural language and reasoning, but not all people understand language in the same way, and many people are careless in their use of natural language. For example, there are people who only use the present tense, even though there was a past, and there will be a future. And there are a few deficiencies in natural language. For example, there is nothing that directly shows whether something is intended as an opinion or as fact, and this can lead to significant problems. ...
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