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Illogical Proofs
A blog that uses accepted rules of logic to prove grossly inaccurate claims. | |
This is an idea for a blog or website, called "Illogical
Proofs." The blog is devoted to proving ridiculously wrong
contentions using skewed logic in proofs. For example:
1. Cheese is made up mostly of fats.
2. Fats are mostly carbon. Thus, cheese is mostly carbon
(Syllogism).
3. Diamonds
are mostly carbon. Thus, cheese and
diamonds
are the same thing (Detachment).
4. Diamonds can withstand temperatures of up to 6,000
degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Apollo 11's landing jets produced temperatures close
to
6,000 degrees.
6. The Moon withstood those temperatures during the
Apollo moon landing. Thus, the moon is made of
diamonds.
7. If the Moon is diamond, and diamonds are the same
thing as cheese, then the moon is made of cheese
(Detachment).
Proofs like to one above would be regularly posted in
order
to prove all sorts of ludicrous proposals.
Like this?
http://mikeschuler....plus.net/index.html
"Does the Universe have a secret? If you say 'no', then you must already know everything. This is the true story of how I stumbled on the long sought after 'unification theory' or 'theory of everything' or 'quantum gravity,'... completely by accident. I wasn't even looking for the answer to the mysteries of 'dark matter' or 'dark energy.' I just tripped over them by mistake." [zen_tom, Jan 28 2011]
She's a witch!
http://www.youtube....watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g
[Jinbish, Jan 28 2011]
[link]
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Hey, Doc, you ever heard of the National Enquirer ? |
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[-] I don't see the fun in this. Yes, languages developed for rude communication based on the physical world don't necessarily fit the imaginary world of logic and mathematics. Is this a surprise ? |
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But I can pop the balloon at #2 anyways:
"mostly" isn't the same as "mostly mostly" even within the constraints of conversational English. |
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Buns are notations in the HB database. Bones are notations in the HB database. Therefore a bun is a bone. See where I'm going with this ? |
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Logical Failures:
Step 2 Diamonds are purely carbon. (Contaminants in the structure are not part of the diamond).
Step 3 This is a generalization, not detachment (for detachment to be valid, prior statements must be complete to the point of excluding other possibilities).
Step 6 Unstated assumption (Diamond is not the only thing that can withstand those temperatures. |
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Since this isn't using the accepted rules of logic, I'd say the basic premise of the idea is false. |
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Probably best if you steer away from a career in politics or journalism, [MechE] |
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It's common knowledge that logical syllogisms can produce all sorts of ridiculous but valid conclusions. And I think this should be demonstrated, however, not necessarily in the form presented in the idea. |
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The trick is to start from true statements, which was not done here, and end up with a false but valid conclusion. Off the top of my head I will try: |
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All humans are mammals. Dr worm is a human. Therefore dr worm is a mammal. All mammals feed on their mothers breast milk. Therefore Dr worm feeds on his mother's breast milk. Breast milk is considerably fatty. Those who eat considerably fatty things are likely fat. Therefore dr worm is likely fat off of his mother's breast milk. |
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No dog has 6 legs. Most dogs have 4 legs more than no dog. Therefore dogs have 10 legs. |
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One scientist x from Swaziland used inconclusive data to write his report, therefore all global warming is a corrupt conspiracy. |
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Perhaps the legs are concealed behind the sofa? |
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Sounds like the cue for a conspieracy theory ... |
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This dog, does it have a nose ? How does it smell ? |
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FlyingToaster: Thanks for the bun! |
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MechE: Thanks for pointing out the logical
failures. The point of the exercise is to use
horrible, horrible logic (I could point out many
more flaws in the proof myself!). |
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rcarty: That I'm a human is just an assumption. I
could be a worm, or a dog, because on the
internet, no one knows you're a dog. That said,
your logic is correct; I was, at one point, fat off of
my mother's breast milk. |
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All in all... yeah, this idea could probably be
better put. |
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If it's meant to be a sort of semantic game, well, OK, yeah,
OK. |
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If it's meant as some sort of attempt to point out logical
inconsistencies in formal logic, then it sort of fails. |
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More the former than the latter. |
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