SanityProject

The false equivalence fallacy 3

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged logic SanityProject on by

Getting back to the inappropriate use of the term “Alligator Auschwitz,” I’ve noticed several cases on Bluesky where people have argued, in effect: The facility called “Alligator Alcatraz” is a concentration camp. Auschwitz was a concentration camp. Therefore the two are morally equivalent.

This is an example of the false equivalence fallacy. It claims two things are equivalent on the basis of some similarities while ignoring significant differences. Often, as in the present case, they’re differences of degree. Wikipedia gives the example: “They are both Felidae, mammals in the order Carnivora, therefore there’s little difference between having a pet cat and a pet jaguar.” It’s most likely to turn up in emotionally loaded comparisons. “Overstaying one’s visa and armed invasion are both illegal, so overstayed immigrants are an invasion force.” “Kissing someone without prior verbal permission and rape are both impositions on a person, therefore an unrequested kiss amounts to rape.” “A 5G phone and a nuclear reactor in meltdown both emit radiation, therefore 5G phones are a severe danger to anyone in the area.”
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Idiots on the left and right

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged fake news journalism news SanityProject on by

Sometimes there is so much idiocy in the news that you have to unpack it layer by layer. This is the case with a statement which Florida governor DeSantis made and the way some people have described it.

In an interview, DeSantis said: “We also have a policy that if you’re driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety. … You drive off and hit one of these people — that’s their fault for impinging on you. You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and parade you through the streets. You have a right to defend yourself in Florida.”
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Misinformation on social media: A personal example

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged Internet SanityProject on by

Social media websites are notorious for letting inaccurate information spread without correction. It’s often unintentional; someone makes a mistake that gets widely repeated, or a joke is taken as a serious claim. This morning I found I was part of this, as people boosted and favorited (terms vary with the platform) a mistake which I made.

I run a feed of news for filkers, appropriately called “Filk News” (on Bluesky and on Mastodon). On Sunday, March 9, the USA and Canada moved to Daylight Saving Time, but Europe doesn’t till later. There are several online filk gatherings with international attendance, so this could confuse people about when meetings start in their time zone. For example, Eurofilk is 6 PM Central European Time, which normally makes it noon US Eastern Time, but for three weeks it’s 1 PM Eastern Time.
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The most pernicious religious doctrine

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged religion SanityProject on by

A religion’s success depends upon its having followers. A reliable technique for getting and keeping followers is the threat of divine punishment for infidels. Believe and get a great reward; don’t believe and get a horrible punishment. God can read your mind, so there’s no use faking belief.

The Gospel of John says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18, NIV) Only a handful of people had heard of Jesus in his time, much less believed he was God’s son, so this was a declaration of damnation for virtually the entire human race in the early first century. Whether Jesus actually said it is a separate question. Evangelical Christians place great stock in this assertion, whatever its source.
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Video vs. text

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged literacy SanityProject video on by

At their best, videos are a great source of information. They let you see events and look at the faces of people advancing their aims. But when it comes to analyzing and evaluating an issue, they’re a poor substitute for text. With the decline in reading by Americans, this is a serious concern.

The shift from large screens and paper materials to phones helps to explain the popularity of videos. It’s hard to read text on a pocket-sized screen. People often listen to videos more than they watch them. Or they half-listen while doing other things. This isn’t good for developing informed opinions.
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Addressing an insane world 1

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged education SanityProject writing on by

Insanity is the default state of humanity. Ever since I can remember, people have been declaring that their present is Heinlein’s “crazy years.” It’s getting worse, though. People are openly applauding the thug who gunned down Brian Thompson in the street. A lot of them are undoubtedly the same ones who applauded the massacre of innocent Israelis in 2023. The current president of the US abused his power to pardon his son, and the next one has declared his intent to pardon rioters who invaded the Capitol in support of his lies. The latter wants to tax imports and kick out immigrant workers who contribute to domestic production, and people cheer the policies that will inevitably make everything more expensive.

It’s easy to give in to despair. You can give up on the world and just try to enjoy the show as it collapses. But it’s too easy and accomplishes nothing. Besides, there are two reasons not to call it quits.
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Words without meaning 8

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged Internet language SanityProject vocabulary on by

To answer an accusation, you have to know what it means. If the words have no fixed meaning, no argument can show that it’s false. Certain words in the culture of the left serve this purpose. They allow irrefutable accusations — irrefutable because they mean whatever the accuser wants them to. Denying the accusation or defending someone else against it can even become evidence of guilt. Words are supposed to be the tools of thought, but these words are designed to make thought impossible.
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Yahoo News calls its readers “absolute morons”

This entry was posted in Writer ethics Writing and tagged fake news news SanityProject writing on by

I don’t know whether headline writing is a low-paying job that attracts incompetent people or they’re under time pressure and can’t do a decent job. Or perhaps their bosses tell them, “Never mind respect for the reader, write clickbait!” A headline that I just saw on Yahoo News tops them all: “No, Donald Trump Isn’t Wading Through Hurricane Floodwaters, You Absolute Morons.” I don’t know why Yahoo decided it was a good idea to grossly insult all its readers, but I won’t reward them with a link. You know the search-engine routine. Here’s a screenshot, in case the people responsible have been sacked by the time you read this.
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