The Worst Argument In The World

Post by rmc » Fri, Aug 31, 2012, 2:24 PM UTC

127 wrote: post #91

DannoHung wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The eugenics example is even worse. In the 1930s, people were absolutely certain eugenics was the best thing since sliced bread, then Hitler showed the world how bad that could go. To deny "Those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it" as a guiding principle seems rather hubristic to me. Erm, well, what we saw was that using social programs to engage in eugenics was a problem. Allowing individuals to chang…

>Evolutionary psychology is a valid science, however, and this is an enormous however, untrained individuals attempting to use it to enforce social norms is absolutely 100% sexist. I personally believe that sexism is not immediately a negative thing, but neutral. Sex based discrimination is useful and can hold a lot of value in determining our next course of action. Using sexism as a moral axiom is illogical. What's…

Yes, I suppose what you are saying is correct, but what you're talking about is not the main form of sexism in modern cultures. It is nearly always is used to keep women down, merely because they are women. Likewise for race. Often people who talk about evo psych are trying to justify why its ok to forcibly have sex with someone who is wearing a skirt of some defined length.

We haven't gotten rid of the "bad sexism" stuff yet, so you're theoretical sexism free utopia is purely theoretical at the moment.

Post by illuminate » Sat, Sep 01, 2012, 6:05 AM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #135

makomk wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except for the first one (and even that's debatable - if memory serves me correctly, "George Washington was a traitor" is generally used by the left-wing to demonstrate why categories like "traitor" aren't useful, rather than as a serious argument against Washington) they're not actually examples of the Worst Argument in the World though. For instance, the fact that guns kill people is still just as effective as an a…

But isn't that exactly the argument? Evolution itself isn't a fact. Parts of it are a fact, and the other parts can be reasonably deduced from the facts. It's a bit presumptuous to say that it's a fact, as you could probably say that about Newton's laws too, which were proved to be inaccurate in the end.

It is a theory AND a fact, and it is not the least bit presumptuous to say so.

Re: The Worst Argument In The World

Re: The Worst Argument In The World