The naturalistic fallacy is an unwarranted connection between is and ought. There are many versions of it (it’s sometimes referred to as the is-ought problem), but the version of it I wish to focus upon usually appears as a response to a new idea, like this:
This is obviously the way things are. It’s the way they have always been… so your new idea is foolish.
The dismantling of Western civilization ran from the middle of the Enlightenment to about 1967. Since then, it has been aggressively uprooted and burnt. (See FMP #90 and here for details.) Western civilization still continues in the hearts and minds of many Westerners, and some local institutions retain their souls, but the central institutions are lost. The large and centralized entities of the modern West oppose Western civilization.
That said and accepted, the darkness emanating from American and European power centers has made one thing very clear: They are NOT Western civilization. They are, in fact, wildly separated from it. And that, in its way, is a blessing: It allows us to clarify what Western civilization really was. Continue reading “Reclaiming Our Western Civilization”
The fallacies I’m calling word formulas (and there are many varieties) are properly called syllogistic fallacies. That is, they are syllogisms that are used poorly.
A syllogism is, as you might guess, a word formula. Aristotle gets the credit for defining them, though people certainly used them beforehand. The classic syllogism goes like this: Continue reading “Fallacy #7: Word Formulas”
This year has been deeply disappointing. We see the most vulnerable human instincts being manipulated and harvested. We see sociopaths grasping unprecedented power, policemen enforcing immoral orders and hatred held up as truth. It wouldn’t be hard to slide into dejection and to conclude that the human race simply isn’t fit for progress.
And yet we must continue forward. Fundamentally this is about being true to ourselves, caring about the good, and not selling out to barbarians.
I’ve made a number of posts dealing with the mayhem this year, and I think with good cause. Certain things need to be condemned. But I think that moment is coming to an end. The world may be racing toward darkness, but my job (and yours too) is to build something better, not to stand around weeping. Continue reading “What’s Coming At Us”
The ad hominem fallacy is a tool for winning an argument, based not upon the facts, but by attacking the person arguing against you. In other words, personal attacks are used to distract everyone from the actual facts.
If done successfully, the opponents and observers will focus only on the failings (real or imagined) of the person being attacked, and uncritically accept the conclusion of the person launching the attack. Continue reading “Fallacy #6: Ad Hominem”
Bitcoin, as wonderful as it is, is second in importance to the culture of Bitcoin… a culture spawned by myriad believers in a new and better model of human organization. And it is by the sharing of that new vision that the world will actually be improved.
And so I’d like you to know about a cause that’s deserving of your sats. Paralelni Polis – the primary hub of this new model of life – is going out of its way to spread the benevolence of our new culture. They deserve your support.
So, please send them some sats. Healing the world is up to us, and this is precisely the sort of thing that will do it.
Money wasn’t always our enemy, of course; I’m old enough that I knew people who were alive before it was weaponized. But modern money – dollars, euros and so on – are so destructive that they’re threatening not just individuals, but Western civilization itself.
If that sounds a bit over the top, please read on. Before we’re done I think I’ll convince you otherwise.
I call fiat currency a weapon of mass destruction because it has caused far more widespread damage than chemical weapons ever have, and has assuredly destroyed more human potential than nuclear weapons. The nuke destroys horrifyingly but rarely; fiat money destroys minute by minute, day by day, over multiple decades and in shocking proportions. Continue reading “Money Is A Weapon of Mass Destruction”
The loaded question fallacy is an attempt to win an argument by starting it with a question or statement that contains a false or misleading assumption. The usual example of this (and one that makes the trick easy to understand) is this question:
Have you stopped beating your wife?
Whether you answer yes or no, you’re admitting that you’ve beaten beaten her in the past; that is pre-supposed by the question itself.
So, this fallacy is really just a dirty trick, although it’s usually wrapped in something like justice-seeking. Continue reading “Fallacy #5: The Loaded Question”
There’s a lot to feel uncertain about in this world. Making things worse, more or less all the large things in it are arranged to reap from your uncertainty. Advertising is an obvious example (reaping from insufficiencies that are implanted then filled with their products), but governments function similarly and even a lot of relationships revolve around insecurity-matching.
Needless to say, insecurity feels bad, and it is certainly no aid to good decision-making. Thus it’s clearly in our self-interest to fix it. Continue reading “Self-Generated Certainty”
The appeal to authority fallacy (also called argument from authority) is a very simple one, but it can be tricky to deal with. This fallacy says that we should not believe things just because people with authority say they’re right. Typically, the fallacy appears like this:
Person A: XYZ is happening, and the world is in great danger because of it.
Person B: Why in the world would I believe XYZ is happening? I see no evidence.
Person A: Ha! The New York Times, the Harvard Review, the Counsel of Churches and scientific consensus have all said it’s happening!
And here’s another common use: Continue reading “Fallacy #4: Appeal To Authority”
