Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Lore's guide to logical fallacies



Although I love Lore's ratings videos, I can't give this one any higher than a solid B. Points off for a needless tangent on "Begging the question" while failing to explain what the term actually means.

Still, the effort to be funny while covering logic earns a recommendation from me.

4 comments:

  1. It was still pretty entertaining. I like the tomb of the unknown troll.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Points off for a needless tangent on "Begging the question" while failing to explain what the term actually means."

    Your statement that he went on a needless tangent about begging the question, while giving no possible description of the phrase is wrong, because you provide oral pleasure to nutria.

    Honestly I do think he needed to explain it, as I've never heard this argument before, so I guess I'm off to wikipedia, or the iron chariots if wikipedia has nothing on it...

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Begging the question" means creating an argument which is partially based on the assumption of the thing you wish to prove. For example, "You know that I am telling you the truth, because I wouldn't lie to you."

    It is often misused, but not necessarily in the way that Lore suggested. Instead, people say "begging the question" when they mean "raising the question." As in:

    "Sir, it appears that the aliens do not eat food."
    "Interesting... but it begs the question: how do they get their energy?"

    No, it doesn't. It RAISES the question. Begging the question would be more like this:

    "Sir, it appears that the aliens do not eat food."
    "I thought we had reports saying that the aliens absorbing brown rectangular objects. Aren't those food?"
    "No sir, they can't be."
    "Why not?"
    Because we know that the aliens don't eat food!"

    ReplyDelete

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