Quote by Marshall McLuhan

Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man's love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth. (p.56)

Understanding Media 1964

Marshall McLuhan (21 July 1911 – 31 December 1980)

Father Thomas Hopko about Christianity and Armageddon

thanks to youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz6DK7IRh0A

Informall fallacy: Non-sequitur

From the Latin, "it does not follow"

Examples and Observations:

·         "Non sequiturs are most obvious when absurd. For instance, from the facts that most cats like milk and some cats have tails I could not derive the conclusion that David Hume was the greatest British philosopher. That would be a complete non sequitur that borders on the surreal, whether or not its conclusion is true. Non sequiturs are often advertised by the spurious use of 'so' and 'therefore' . . ., but the context of a statement can also suggest that it is a conclusion derived from what has gone before even when there is no such word used to indicate it.

"Any formal fallacy will have a non sequitur as its conclusion, though most of these non sequiturs will be less obvious than the one above."
(Nigel Warburton, Thinking from A to Z. Routledge, 1996)

 

·         "The difference between the post hoc and the non sequitur fallacies is that, whereas the post hoc fallacy is due to lack of a causal connection, in the non sequitur fallacy, the error is due to lack of a logical connection."
(Mabel Lewis Sahakian, Ideas of the Great Philosophers. Barnes & Noble, 1993)

 

·         Ralph Wiggum: Martin Luther King had a dream. Dreams are where Elmo and Toy Story had a party and I was invited. Yay! My turn is over!
Principal Skinner: One of your best, Ralphie.
("The Color Yellow," The Simpsons, 2010)

 

·         "A non sequitur is any pretended jump in logic that doesn't work cleanly, perhaps because of unfounded premises, unmentioned complicating factors, or alternative explanations, such as 'This war is righteous because we are French!' or 'You will do what I say because you are my wife!'"
(Steve Hindes, Think for Yourself. Fulcrum, 2005)

 

·         Ralph Wiggum: Um, Miss Hoover? There's a dog in the vent.
Miss Hoover: Ralph, remember the time you said Snagglepuss was outside?
Ralph Wiggum: He was going to the bathroom.
("Sweet Seymour Skinner's Song," The Simpsons)

 

·         "Warming was caused by sunspots, or fluctuations in the Earth's orbit, or volcanic eruptions. Therefore it cannot be caused by mankind. The 'therefore' is the giveaway, the delicious non sequitur: just because Earth has warmed for one or another reason in the past is no reason why it cannot warm for a completely different reason in the future."
(John Llewellyn, "In a Confusing Climate." The Observer, Sep. 2, 2007)

Pronunciation: non SEK-wi-terr

thanks to:

http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nonseqterm.htm

 

Affirming the Consequent

Definition:

Any argument of the following form is invalid:
If A then B
B
Therefore, A

Examples:

1. If I am in Calgary, then I am in Alberta. I am in Alberta, thus, I am in Calgary. (Of course, even though the premises are true, I might be in Edmonton, Alberta.)
2. If the mill were polluting the river then we would see an increase in fish deaths. And fish deaths have increased. Thus, the mill is polluting the river.

Proof:

Show that even though the premises are true, the conclusion could be false. In general, show that B might be a consequence of something other than A. For example, the fish deaths might be caused by pesticide run-off, and not the mill.

References

Barker: 69, Cedarblom and Paulsen: 24, Copi and Cohen: 241

Denying the Antecedent

Definition:
Any argument of the following form is invalid:
If A then B
Not A
Therefore, Not B
Examples:

1. if you get hit by a car when you are six then you will die young. But you were not hit by a car when you were six. Thus you will not die young. (Of course, you could be hit by a train at age seven, in which case you still die young.)
2. If I am in Calgary then I am in Alberta. I am not in Calgary, thus, I am not in Alberta.
Proof:

Show that even though the premises are true, the conclusion may be false. In particular, show that the consequence B may occur even though A does not occur.
References

Barker: 69, Cedarblom and Paulsen: 26, Copi and Cohen: 241

Inconsistency

Definition:
The author asserts more than one proposition such that the propositions cannot all be true. In such a case, the propositions may be contradictories or they may be contraries.
Examples:

1. Montreal is about 200 km from Ottawa, while Toronto is 400 km from Ottawa. Toronto is closer to Ottawa than Montreal.
2. John is taller than Jake, and Jake is taller than Fred, while Fred is taller than John.
Proof:

Assume that one of the statements is true, and then use it as a premise to show that one of the other statements is false.
References

Barker: 157

thanks to:

http://onegoodmove.org/fallacy/incon.htm



Missing the Point (Ignoration Elenchi)

An argument in defense of one conclusion instead proves a difference conclusion


1. Crimes of embezzlement have risen and theft of property the has risen dramatically. It follows therefore: that we should institute the dealth penalty as soon as possible.

(The premise may be true and we may agree with it, but it does not follow that the death penalty must be instituted because there are clearly better options on the table that can be legislated)

2. We should support the new housing bill for cheaper housing. We can't continue to see people living in the streets; homes should be cheaper for all.

(We can agree that people should not live on the streets and that homes should be for affordable, but we may not agree about the housing bill. It could have other caveats that are not related or have nothing to do with people living in the streets)

3. We should support affirmative action. White folks have run the country for too long to remember. They run most of government and private business today. You can't deny that this type of discrimination has existed and continues to exists.

(It is true that there is discrimination, but that affirmative action is the solution is that will end that discrimination is not true)



thanks to:

www.Hebrew4christians.com

























 

 

 

 

 

Part II Michael Ramsden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHHQDD1nnuU&feature=relmfu

Answering the Tough Questions Part I with Michael Ramsden

Interesting lecture from a funny man part I


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQFzpiTc6j8&feature=related

"People are not logical problems waiting to be solved."

Michael Ramsden

Genesis, the Bible and the Scientific consensus

Do we have a common ground between the Bible and current scientific consensus? My answer is that we most definitely do, not from a fundamental viewpoint of Genesis, but from a mystical and at the same time logical point of view. Taking scripture in a literal sense and making words walk on all fours is the issue. If viewed in the mythical-style and non-fiction sense, we see a tale that is true as wrapped at times with a mythical like narration of order from smaller species to larger, of the creation of time and space, light elements and heavier elements, disorder to order or night to day. We have historical elements of kings, kingdoms, peoples and wars and poetry of the heart melting out from the pages. We see proverbial messages of wisdom and a return to grace. One common theme rings out from Old Testament to New Testament. And this is the ultimate salvation of a corrupt world under one condition essential to it. This is not a Myth as other myths like Adonis or Balder, but a myth-like tale that is true of which all the other myths of men flow into and get their impetus and inspiration. It is the anti-type or the anti-shadow to these types and shadows of men. It is in these shadows that we get moral tales and hope of restoration. And it is in the anti-type, that we get the real meaning of all the others, the real essence. These shadows point to the reality. They give us a clue of things from our imaginations. As all men strive and long for a common goal and all men create stories of heroes and dragons to exalt themselves of this hope, this inner need for restored order, under the one condition that can give it: God becomes man!

 

 

special thanks to the imagination of Tolkien, the Philologist, the writer and poet and thanks to the theology, writing and mythical imagination of C.S. Lewis, to Hank Hanegraaff of the Bible answer man and the reason for the hope that we have and finally to Father Thomas Hopko, Orthodox Priest and gentleman.

 

Kyrie Eleison

glory to Christ

 

 

 

How big was Noah's Ark?

The Ratio of Noah's Ark was 30.5.3. Multiply this by 10 and you have 300 cubits long x 50 Cubits wide x 30 cubits tall. 1.5 feet per cubit makes for a cargo boat of 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. It could hold the capacity of around 520 to 522 railroad box cars and about 1,390,000 cubic feet of space. One railroad box car could hold about 240 sheep sized animals. Multiply 520 box cars by 240 and we get 124,800 or more sheep sixed animals. Let's say we store:


3,700 Mammals
8,600 Birds
6,300 Reptiles
2,500 Amphibians

21,100 total animals
x 2 = 42,200 animals

Baby animals are smaller than grown animals and would need less space than their larger sized parents.

Animals in hibernation mode need less man-hours and less food and water to exist.

Assuming the seas where not as salinized makes the flood water drinkable. So water would not have been an issue, especially with fresh water raining down for many days.


Ancient other sources of a flood:

Greeks
Mayans
Summarians
Hittites
Old Babylonians  1635 B>C> (Epic of Atrahasis)
Epic of Gilgamesh

thanks to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4f00OXdj6U