Re: The Promise of Forth

John Doty wrote:
Guy Macon wrote:
John Doty wrote:
Guy Macon wrote:

There is no need to demonstrate in detail that you don't know what a null hypothesis is and are thus only able to argue
against a strawman parody of it. We already know that from
the rest of your writing.
Demonstrate exactly how this parody differs in any important detail from your method of argument.

Nope. Not worth the effort. You appear to be ineducable.

You have been advised to read a book on critical thinking.
Obviously you have decided to not heed that advice.
I have read a great many books on critical thinking. The most recent one is "18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics" (Reuben Hersh, Ed.), a wonderful demolition of Platonism, and containing some real wisdom about how we might replace it.

Another fine essay is "The Nature of Knowledge" by R. A. Lyttleton.

Unbelievable. You don't even know what the phrase "Critical Thinking" means! You actauully think that the above two books qualify as books on critical thinking.

Free clue: if a book does not contain at least on chapter on the
topic of fallacies, it probably isn't a book about critical thinking.

One more comment: to worry excessively about fallacies indicates a profound commitment to avoid facing reality. Reality is what it is, and real world evidence is the testimony you much use. You must *never* assume your assumptions are infallible: indeed, you must constantly modify them as more evidence comes in.

But the whole idea of worrying about fallacies is the silly notion that your assumptions themselves can testify as to their truth or falsehood. Ridiculous! Newton's reasoning in creating mechanics was fallacious, as Berkeley conclusively demonstrated. Fourier never published a correct mathematical proof, even by the loose standards of his time. Bohr *explicitly* denied logic. Yet each of these people produced extremely important knowledge that worked effectively in the real world. On the other hand, the ancients, using *precisely* what you call "critical thinking", contributed little to physics except for the name. Face reality. Use reality.


If you ever decide to address your ignorance, here is a good place to start: http://www.austhink.org/critical/pages/fallacies.html



No, it is you who have fallen into the ancient trap of classical logic. That can no longer be taken seriously as the foundation of critical thinking. The success of the scientific method and the abject failure of logic-based AI to produce anything remotely approximating actual intelligence should be a clue to any *real* critical thinker that something is wrong with uncritical faith in classical logic. What you call "critical thinking" is no more truly critical thinking than any other faith-based system. The evidence is against it. That you may have had this faith drummed into you in your youth is no reason to continue to accept it when reality testifies against it.



--
John Doty, Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.
http://www.noqsi.com/
--
History teaches that logical consistency is neither sufficient nor necessary to establish practical, real world truth. Those who attempt to use logic for that purpose are abusing it.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Promise of Forth
    ... against a strawman parody of it. ... You actauully think that the above two books qualify as books on critical thinking. ... The success of the scientific method and the abject failure of logic-based AI to produce anything remotely approximating actual intelligence should be a clue to any *real* critical thinker that something is wrong with uncritical faith in classical logic. ...
    (comp.lang.forth)
  • Re: The Promise of Forth
    ... against a strawman parody of it. ... I have read a great many books on critical thinking. ... Another fine essay is "The Nature of Knowledge" by R. A. Lyttleton. ...
    (comp.lang.forth)
  • Re: Proposal
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  • Re: JSH: Measuring post impact
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    ... I've been thinking a lot about the Moon missions. ... Try reading a lot of the books on the topic. ... Not enough critical thinking. ... I cna cite many, many fine volumes of peer reviewed and ...
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