A cautious toe into popular culture; happy breakfast; miscellany

Tonight, I put a few faces to the names of the popular culture figures that seem to be on everyone's mind. For the first time in I honestly haven't a clue how long, I went to the movies with LaElu. I still cannot help but think that the slow pace of speech is a very inefficient way to impart information.

A local bank had its huge "Groundhog Day Breakfast" this morning. There were probably 400 there. I was the only one in a Hawaiian shirt - in honor of Sarai, and in affirmation that spring is coming - and I did point out to some folks that if Christ personally were giving the speech, I wouldn't be in a tie at a Groundhog Day Breakfast on a Saturday morning. The governor was once again the speaker, talked a lot about energy policy (West Virginia's biggest industry is coal mining) and I had a brief chat and told him I'd send him my copy of Freedom from Oil. I dug around No. 3 and finally found it this afternoon.

Rosa's right - I have been rather tightly strung of late. But the idea of taking a break is anathema. Damfino what to do.

The Community Blog has been a laboratory of invalid argument devices lately. I found a nice compendium. In the spirit of the Super Bowl (which I won't watch because it's 4 hours of bloody booring kitsch), perhaps we can come up with referees' hand signals (expressed as emoticons) to use to call the penalties:

Invalid Argument Terms/Techniques
(some of these terms do not always imply an invalid technique,
but the ploy can be labeled as such)

Ad Antiquitam - Appealing to convention or traditional action as a proof of validity.

Ad hoc - Simply means directed to a single proposition or issue--no further implications intended. A proliferation of ad hoc adjustments to a theory indicates a crisis in acceptability.

Ad hominem (abusive) - Attacking the behavior or character of the man instead of his argument. Appealing to emotions and/or prejudices rather than to intellect or reason.

Ad Novitam - Appealing to modernity or newness as a proof of validity.

Associationism - Implying that an associative relationship is a causative one.

Affirming the Consequent - In valid logic structure when we say that if A is true then B is true, we must prove A to be true in order to conclude that B is true. Affirming the consequent is to falsely conclude that A is true upon finding that B is true.

Authoritarianism - Unquestioning reliance on an authority or expert.

Composition Fallacy - Applying to the whole the properties of the parts.

Defeatism - Claiming an end is impossible to achieve as a reason for not following a line of reason.

De fide - Literally "of faith", but implying revealed by god and requiring unconditional assent.

Denying the Antecedent - In valid logic structure when we say that if A is true then B is true, we must not assume B to be false because A is false. Denying the antecedent is to falsely conclude that B is false upon finding that A is false.

Derision - Using an emphasis on ridicule to assail a premise or argument.

Dis-accreditation - The ploy of pointing out a lack of formal accreditation on the other side. .

Disaffirmation - A contradiction or repudiation of a premise formerly stated or agreed upon.

Dismissal - Dismissing a premise, hypothesis or theory before hearing the argument.

Dis-qualification - Excusing oneself by the ploy of being formally or academically unqualified.

Division Fallacy - Applying to the part what may be true of the whole.

Dogmatism - Unwarranted or arrogant stating of opinion or position.

Equivocation - Using the same term or word in different and incomparable senses..

Enthusiasm - Originally implying supernatural inspiration, it is often used to try to override logic.

Exaggeration - Overemphasizing to an extreme degree.

False analogy - An offering of resemblances that don't really imply essential similarity.

Gamblers Fallacy - Thinking that some pattern of the past has an influence on a truly random event.

Genetic Fallacy - The Origins of something is erroneously ascribed.

Ill-logical - Based on faulty logic.

Invalid emphasis - Accenting or stressing a word or phrase in a sentence where that accent or emphasis changes the probably received meaning..

Invalid syllogism - A syllogism is a major premise, minor premise and valid conclusion such as: All virtues are laudable, kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is laudable. An invalid form would be: Some Danes are dogs, Lars is a Dane; therefore Lars is a dog.

Irrelevance - Where an argument that may support one conclusion is used to support another, or where the argument is misguided or oblique to the issue at hand.

Hyper-limitation - Intentionally and/or needlessly limiting the number of options or possibilities.

Hypocrisy* - Originally meant lacking in judgment or lacking the quality of careful and critical thinking. Now used here to denote an agenda other than to arrive at the truth.

Loaded Questions - Asking questions where no simple response can be reasonable, or where any response implies acceptance of what is asserted as part of the question.

Mala fide - With intent to deceive.

Mal entendu - Misunderstood or poorly conceived.

Mal absurdum - Mis-characterization or invalid reduction to an absurdity..

Misinform - To supply with misleading information.

Non-comparable - Not worthy of comparison.

Non sequitur - Latin for out of sequence, a break in the chain of logic with an unwarranted leap.

Pedantism - A demand to prove the case within the conventional framework..

Petitio principii - Assuming in the premise of an argument the conclusion which is to be substantiated; a form of circular reasoning.

Post Hoc Ergo Prompter Hoc - An argument that implies that since A preceded B in time, A caused B..

Proton Pseudos - First or fundamental falsity or error. Many times arguments start with this up front or as a hidden assumption..

Reductionism - Any method or theory that reduces data, information or processes to seeming equivalents that are less complex or developed than is the real case.

Reification - The attempt to make a purely abstract idea or concept into a real-world extant entity.

Red Herring - The introduction of extraneous material or irrelevant argument to divert attention or focus on the issue at hand.

Simplistic demand - Demanding a simple or inadequate answer to a complex question or issue.

Special Pleading - Using a double-standard to require less rigorous treatment for one's own assertion than one would use against a counter assertion.

Straw man - Arguing against a premise no one has taken, knocking that premise down, and then assuming or implying that you have then discredited the original at question.

Tautology - A form of needless repetition or circular reasoning that does not advance understanding.

Ultra-Symbolism - Confusing the symbol with the reality for which it stands.

Unilateralism - Taking into account only one side of an issue or matter.

* Most men of good will would say they place the highest priority on knowing the truth, and they would deny being willing to deliberately promulgate falsehood for no higher purpose than to win an argument or to defend a personal position. These men would all claim to value the truth over what they really value more. It is in this most fundamental way--men pay lip service to the truth, then let personal agendas override--that we are using the terms hypocritical and hypocrisy. Any man driven to use invalid techniques can be considered to be a hypocrite.


My mom is more comfortable wearing the nasal cannula out of the house now, so I don't think I'll have much trouble encouraging her to go to church in the morning. The service will be based on Lincoln, which is a neat idea.

Mizpah.

R