RE: virus: Church of Virus/Memetics/Faith

Dave Pape (davepape@dial.pipex.com)
Wed, 4 Jun 1997 23:00:54 +0100 (BST)


At 21:38 02/06/97 -0700, Richard Brodie wrote:

Thanks for reposting it Richard because I DID miss it the first time.

>David McF wrote:
>
>>I'm saying that the circularity of an argument lies on
>>a continuum. Very tight circularity (e.g. The Bible is true because
>>it says so in the Bible) is a logical fallacy.

David... I'm not being facetious here, it's because I have little formal
experience with "proper" logic (as taught in logic classes)... so... Why is
that a logical fallacy? Can you tell me what the process is? I'm trying to
think about logic in terms of memetic interaction. Cheers!

>>But if the circularity
>>is extremely complex and indirect (like the body of scientific
>>knowledge)
>>then it is not a logical fallacy (e.g. we know the age of the universe
>>because we know the speed of light, and the distance of stars, and the
>>nature of our instruments, and ... thousands if not millions of steps
>>...
>>which are eventually, in the long run, self-referential).

Dave Pape
==========================================================================
I am ready.

Phonecalls: 0118 9583727 Phights: 20 Armadale Court
Westcote Road
Reading RG30 2DF