>CB: I'd say it is more a lack of reliance on evidence ( like the thread
>title) rather than lack of formal logical function. It is not being
>empirical , rather than setting up a faulty syllogism. It is logical in
>the sense that "birds of a feather flock together. Hussein and AlQ are birds
>of a feather ; therefore , they flock together."
:)
> But it is not empirically critical thinking in that it ignores and fails to
>explore the evidence to support this generally logical idea in this specific
>instance.
Yes, but you actually have to evidence to examine in order to come to a position. Having an opinion, for most AMerians, in my experience, is about believing whatever you choose to believe without examining evidence at all. It's about having a damned opinion, damn it. and my opinion is mine all mine and I get to stroke it and love it and do whatever I want with it, but don't, damn it, touch it. If I wave it about and stroke my opinion in public, that's my right damn it, and you're NOT to touch it or do anything to sully it. It is MY opinion.
Believe me, I find this disturbing, albeit not surprising. Especially when I've interacted with folks on lists about weight lifting and nutrition. I tell them, "No, you can't build muscle just because you're walking "in the zone" for 20 minutes three times a week. You probably aren't gaining 2 lbs of muscle in two weeks, either, when you're also trying to lose 10 lbs. by restricting calories. Muscles grow under _anabolic_ conditions, not catabolic conditions and dieting is, inherently, catabolic."
Well, I gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks and I haven't deviated from my diet, so there. It _feels_ like I have more muslces, so there. I've gained muscle.
*sigh*
Well, uh, no you probably gained 2 lbs of _water_. And I launch into an explanation of muscle growth, glycogen storage, yadda yadda.
To which, "Oh, you're so scientific Kelley. Why are you so scientific? It makes me feel good to think I'm building muscle and learning that I'm not, and I might not be for another 4 or 8 weeks is depressing and it might make me stop my program, so I'm gonna believe I'm gaining muscle. When I flex, my son says they look bigger, so there.
*sigh* (and I'm sorry, but this also happened on a list with a bunch of geeks, many of them well-educated in the finest schools and, not just on paper, but truly capable of demonstrating intelligence in its many forms.
So, yeah, there is a propensity for magical thinking in this country and it fits in perfectly with a kind of individualist ethos and, in some measure, a rejection of certain kinds of authority.
For these folks, they might ask, "What is unreasonable about knowing that Hussein lost GWI, that he might be itching to get Daddy Shrub back and reclaim his honor, and that he might just form an alliance with alQ in order to do so?"
Yeah, and Nicole Simpson MIGHT have been slashed by a drug dealer! If it doesn't fit, you must acquit!
The earth is the third planet from the sun. A lot of people know that only from looking at pictures of the solar system. They know that only because they were told that it was so and that they needed to know it to pass the exam. That happens with a lot of things these days. Do we know how our computers work? How the electricity works. could we fix a toilet that keeps running? Vast swathes of lives are lived by accepting handed down authority, and never really thinking too much about it.
I don't know about anyone else, but it takes a good solid 2 hours of my day to stay informed. I couldn't begin to imagine where my friend M would find the time to keep up with everything. She works 9-5 at a social service agency, comes home, changes, and three week nights, she delivers pizzas to support her kids and a chick who's staying with her (and before that it was her unemployed brother).
Mrs. Brown? She gets home at 6, gets dinner on the table by 7, does homework with the kids til 9, gets them to bed, does some housework, relaxes with Mr. B, or maybe goes to a volunteer meeting or church meeting. She's in bed by 10:00 so she can get up at 5:30 and start all over again.
So, someone dipshit pollster asks them what they think, and they tell 'em: here's my opinion. It's my opinion and it isn't necessarily supposed to be based on evidence, logic, or anything other than "gut feeling". Soooprize, you get these poll results!?
kelley