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CT Logic (or lack thereof)

Spindrift

Time Person of the Year, 2006
Spindrift
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Messages
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Right here!
I've always boggled at the "logic" used by CTers:

If A then B and B then C, therefore if C then A. or some such silly contrivance.

Thanks to a new DVD received at Christmas, I've come across what must be the foundation of CT logic:

Sir Bedevere: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
Peasant 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Sir Bedevere: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
Peasant 1: Burn them.
Sir Bedevere: And what do you burn, apart from witches?
Peasant 1: More witches.
Peasant 2: Wood.
Sir Bedevere: Good. Now, why do witches burn?
Peasant 3: ...because they're made of... wood?
Sir Bedevere: Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of wood?
Peasant 1: Build a bridge out of her.
Sir Bedevere: But can you not also build bridges out of stone?
Peasant 1: Oh yeah.
Sir Bedevere: Does wood sink in water?
Peasant 1: No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw her into the pond!
Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 1: Bread.
Peasant 2: Apples.
Peasant 3: Very small rocks.
Peasant 1: Cider.
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Peasant 3: Cherries.
Peasant 1: Mud.
Peasant 2: Churches.
Peasant 3: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck.
Sir Bedevere: ...Exactly. So, logically...
Peasant 1: If she weighed the same as a duck... she's made of wood.
Sir Bedevere: And therefore...
Peasant 2: ...A witch!

If only the CTers were as intentionally funny as Monty Python.
 
a CTer in a debate is very similar to the black knight

Sir Bedevere: No, no. What else floats in water?
Peasant 2: Gravy.
Click to expand...

does that mean gravy is a witch?
 
Here's a new version of the dialogue:


Sir Jason: There are ways of telling whether the building fell because of Controlled Demolition.
CTer 1: Are there? Oh well, tell us.
Sir Jason: Tell me. When do you use CD?
CTer 1: To knock down buildings.
Sir Jason: And what else knocks down buildings, apart from CD?
CTer 1: More CD.
CTer 2: Fire.
Sir Jason: Good. Now, why do you a use fire to knock down a building?
CTer 3: ...to collect the insurance?
Sir Jason: Good. So what do you use to start the fire?
CTer 1: Matches?
Sir Jason: But don’t you need something else to get the fire going?
CTer 1: Oh yeah.
Sir Jason: Are there any easily available liquids that are flammable?
CTer 1: Yes, yes, gasoline... You can use gas! It was ExxonMobil!
Sir Jason: No, no. What else runs on gas?
CTer 1: A lawnmower.
CTer 2: My uncle Fred.
CTer 3: A blimp.
CTer 1: Flying saucer.
CTer 2: Bicycle.
CTer 3: Churches.
King Dylan: A jetliner.
Sir Jason: ...Exactly. So, logically...
CTer 1: If a building can be taken down by a fire which can be started using gas. An airplane runs on gas.... An airplane crashed into the WTC.
Sir Jason: And therefore...
CTer 2: ...Controlled Demolition brought down the WTC!
 
Hi Spindrift

You're quoting one of my favourite scenes of all time here :) Note to self:watch The Holy Grail today (yet again)!

A lot of religious and New Age thinking is based on precisely this kind of argument. For example, a highly religious person told me that, if I ever doubted the existence of God, think of this: his daughter had severe problems conceiving, so he had been praying every day for about 17 years. He just received the news that she had finally fallen pregnant, so Hallelujah, God has been proven to exist!

Extrapolating causal factors from correlations is my pet hate amidst an ocean of bad logic and sloppy thinking; a bit like saying, because I turned up to the football match and my team lost, my presence at the game caused my team to lose. This kind of superstitious thinking is strangely common amongst sports fans, even those who claim to be more skeptical in their outlook. Just goes to show that emotion can override logic and evidence if we have a romantic or sentimental stake in the object of our observation: we desire for things to be a certain way and twist things to suit this outlook. Those of us in long-term relationships can certainly bear testament to this!!!

PS the best story I ever heard was a Christian lady who caught a cold. She sat on her bed every night commanding Satan to leave her body and guess what? 4 or 5 days later, she got rid of the cold. Oooh, the power of faith, eh? :D
 
-- Listen. Strange videos on the internet showing the collapse of WTC7 is no basis for technical expertise. Expertise in structural engineering derives from years of study and work, not from some YouTube video.
-- Be quiet!
-- You can't expect to have technical expertise just 'cause some watery tart made a video!
-- Shut up!
-- I mean, if I went 'round saying I was an expert just because some moistened bint had sent me a link to Loose Change, they'd put me away!
-- Shut up! Will you shut up?! BLOODY GUBMINT SHILL!!
 
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