Interesting article in Quillete about social psychologist Lee Jussim's work on stereotypes, the liberal bias in the field of social psychology and how social justice, rather than discovering truth, has become the fields prime directive.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
How a rebellious scientist uncovered the surprising truth about stereotypes
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
The Fallacy Fallacy
The fallacy fallacy is the formal fallacy of inferring that if an argument contains a fallacy then it's conclusion must be false. It is also referred to as argument from fallacy, argument to logic and the bad reasons fallacy.
The general form of the argument is:
If P, then Q.
P is a fallacious argument.
Therefore, Q is false.
The problem with this line of thinking is that even though an argument is fallacious it may still have a conclusion that happens to be true. In other words, a bad argument doesn't make a conclusion automatically false. It just means that the argument presented does not provide a good reason to believe that the conclusion is true. It's still entirely possible that the conclusion is true but that it is true for reasons not given in the argument.
Tom: I speak English. Therefore, I am English. Bill: Americans and Canadians, among others, speak English too. By assuming that speaking English and being English always go together, you have just committed the package-deal fallacy. You are incorrect. Therefore, you are not English.
Though Tom's argument is fallacious this is not proof that he is not English.
Wikipedia: Argument from fallacy
Fallacy Files: Fallacy Fallacy
Fallacy Files: Bad Reasons Fallacy
The general form of the argument is:
If P, then Q.
P is a fallacious argument.
Therefore, Q is false.
The problem with this line of thinking is that even though an argument is fallacious it may still have a conclusion that happens to be true. In other words, a bad argument doesn't make a conclusion automatically false. It just means that the argument presented does not provide a good reason to believe that the conclusion is true. It's still entirely possible that the conclusion is true but that it is true for reasons not given in the argument.
Though Tom's argument is fallacious this is not proof that he is not English.
Wikipedia: Argument from fallacy
Fallacy Files: Fallacy Fallacy
Fallacy Files: Bad Reasons Fallacy
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Atlas Playing Cards
Atlas playing cards by designed by Ember Waves. As described in his kickstarter campaign:
The Atlas deck is inspired by the ability for mankind to build on the backs of giants and venture out into the universe. In Greek Mythology, "Atlas" was at the edge of world, in reality it was the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean derives its very name from the Mythological being "Atlas" Titan of Strength and to me it represents how the human heart yearns to find what is lurking in the unknown.
We can now look back and see that the Atlantic Ocean wasn't the edge of the earth but just the beginning. We thought the moon was an impossible feat and now we prepare to venture to Mars and Beyond. Curiosity drives us, as a society, and as a unified people looking for new horizons to conquer. This deck is all about that search and the yearning that burns within us all.
The look and feel of this deck has been inspired by the beautiful Old World Maps that continuously have been updated through the centuries. Its a nod to the artists that had the daunting task of mapping out new worlds with what we consider today to be ancient and inferior technologies. Each generation improved on its predecessor and not surprisingly we had a nearly perfect world map before the dawn of the industrial revolution.
Obscuriosity
An interesting online shop selling reproductions of historical navigation instruments, timepieces, and various other curiosities.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Black Ghost Playing Cards
Ellusionist black ghost playing cards (second edition) produced by US Playing Card Company under the Bicycle brand.
