TheLooniBomber comments on The Fallacy of Gray - Less Wrong

97 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 07 January 2008 06:24AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (78)

Sort By: Old

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: TheLooniBomber 26 January 2013 11:29:57PM 1 point [-]

Bringing party politics into a discussion about rationality makes you the straw man, my friend. Attacking a philosophy of limited government would imply that every government action is the same shade of grey, and all must be necessary, because a group of people voted on a policy, therefore it must be thought out. Politics in itself is not the product of careful examination and rational thinking about public issues, but rather a way of conveying ones interests in a manner that appears to benefit the target audience and gain support. Not all rules are necessary or of the same necessity, simply because they are written.

I would also add that we do, in fact accept the Laws of Logic voluntarily, but only if we are not indoctrinated to do otherwise. To believe that we don't, would suggest that the first philosophers had to have been taught, perhaps by some supernatural or extraterrestrial deity, or perhaps the first logical thought was triggered by a concussion.