Counterpoint: "Kneejerk" is Bad
Posted by Lynn Swann
Labeling Box Daddy's latest fatuous self-involved rubbish as "sophistry" would be an insult to works of sophistry. The obtuseness of the oxygen/helium metaphor is (pardon the pun) breathtaking. We could give it all a close-reading, but why? Box Daddy's comments are self-evidently specious.
Box Daddy actually makes the annoying and wrongheaded David Gelernter seem like maybe he has a point after all. I can't believe Box Daddy has actually got me to say that. I mean, I hate Gelernter.
Labeling Box Daddy's latest fatuous self-involved rubbish as "sophistry" would be an insult to works of sophistry. The obtuseness of the oxygen/helium metaphor is (pardon the pun) breathtaking. We could give it all a close-reading, but why? Box Daddy's comments are self-evidently specious.
Box Daddy actually makes the annoying and wrongheaded David Gelernter seem like maybe he has a point after all. I can't believe Box Daddy has actually got me to say that. I mean, I hate Gelernter.
2 Comments:
The only thing that I disagree with here is "self-evident."
I dont know -- there arent many things in life that seem "self-evident." If there are, then it seems to be a good argument that "knee jerk" reactions are justified, doesn't it?
When I drive a car, I do not get out the owner's manual before I drive. Until recently, women never wondered if a pharmacist would refuse to sell them contraception. All of civilization is built on the automatizing of habit and perception.
To contend that my "knejerk being good argument" is a self-evidently false argument seems to be roundly contradicted by daily human activity. The ability to de-think about certain operations is necessary to human progress.
The only thing that I disagree with here is "self-evident."
I dont know -- there arent many things in life that seem "self-evident." If there are, then it seems to be a good argument that "knee jerk" reactions are justified, doesn't it?
When I drive a car, I do not get out the owner's manual before I drive. Until recently, women never wondered if a pharmacist would refuse to sell them contraception. All of civilization is built on the automatizing of habit and perception.
To contend that my "knejerk being good argument" is a self-evidently false argument seems to be roundly contradicted by daily human activity. The ability to de-think about certain operations is necessary to human progress.
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