Logic: how to introduce it and improve mush-minds
by Jon Rappoport
February 26, 2016 |
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Consider a subject I've been writing about lately: the Zika virus.
Here is a progression which, if followed, leads you to interesting places: Researchers are saying: "the Zika virus causes a birth defect." What does that statement mean? How must causation be established? What are the rules? Have the rules been followed? That simple group of questions takes you to the conclusion that there is no evidence for Zika as the cause of the birth defect---if you proceed in a straight line, allowing no distractions, such as pronouncements from public-health agencies and governments. I could teach a four-year logic course using Zika. During that time, I would introduce a few dozen false and vague generalities, opinions, and diversions that have been deployed to keep people from walking that straight line. These logical flaws are often utilized in arguments, in order to cook the books. Mainstream news is a wonderful source for non-logic. And it also leads you to propaganda, when you realize that all nonsense can't be an accident. It also leads you to a course on journalism: how it's usually done; how it can be done. Investigative reporting is an opportunity to be relentless. Following down a major story to its roots is an illuminating experience. You end up building an alternative structure that parallels and supersedes the official structure. Your archeological mission unearths a city that no one knew was there. In order to accomplish this, you have to be willing to deal with details, one by one. Examine them, see where they came from, determine whether they're relevant, whether they're obfuscating the main event, whether they're false, whether they were placed there to lead you away from the truth. Logic is one system you can count on. It helps you tell the difference between what you know and what you don't know. Logic topples authority when authority is wrong. It mitigates aimless and random personal attacks and accusations. It offers a perspective through which dubious sources of information can be viewed. Logic isn't the ultimate ground of existence. It's a tool that can be used to assess the validity and probability of a formal argument. It isn't an answer. It's a way of arriving at answer. It shows you the difference between an assumption based on belief and a purported fact, which is either true or false. Logic allows you to move inside an overly complex argument that has been promoted to hide the truth. Once inside, you can give the argument a haircut and see its essence. |
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In
a world flooded with information and disinformation, logic isn't the
be-all and end-all. But without it, you're floundering in the ocean.
You're swimming inside holes and gaps, instead of being able to see the
holes and gaps.
The interesting thing is: once people actually know what an author is saying; once they know what conclusion he's reaching; once they know how he's getting there; they can see the flaws and the omissions and the insupportable inferences. They can see the line of reasoning, from beginning to end. The lights go on. A heretofore mysterious territory comes into focus. The differences between fact, lie, assumption, argument, polemic, and propaganda emerge and the mind begins to breathe. Perhaps for the first time. |
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You can find this article and more at NoMoreFakeNews.com.
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Jon Rappoport
The
author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM
THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US
Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a
consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the
expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he
has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles
on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin
Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and
Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics,
health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world.
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