Posted by
glen ep ropella on
Nov 13, 2007; 4:53am
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/FRIAM-and-causality-tp525252p525254.html
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Nicholas Thompson on 11/12/2007 08:10 PM:
> Darn it! I cant get anybody to tangle with the fundamental thing I am
> saying here. Anytime we embody something that is true of the aggregate of
> [...]
> Like most people, I would prefer to be stoned to death than be ignored.
You just don't have enough patience! I intended to reply. But, I had
my hands full today.
I've been trying to point out this fallacy on a political mailing list
over the past month or so. My point has been that most people seem to
bitch about bodies like Congress or any other clique like Republicans by
committing this fallacy. Basically, they ascribe the attributes of
individuals to collectives.
Now, that may not seem like the same fallacy; but it is. And the first
thing you need to do to gain traction on the problem is to at least
begin delineating all the ways in which collectives are different and
the same as their constituents.
One of those differences is complexity. Cause is complex. Yes, you're
right that the statement hammer causes embedded nail relies on the
fallacy of applying a generic tendency (lots of hammers tend to result
in lots of embedded nails) to a particular. However, there's a _more_
important fallacy in the attribution of cause. That is cause-effect are
not chains. They're not total orders. They're not linear or
sequential. Every effect has multiple (usually a dense infinity)
causes. And every cause has multiple (usually a dense infinity) of
effects. And the causes and effects are inextricably intertwined.
The collective vs. individual distinction you're making pales in
comparison to the arbitrary discretization of causality. Sorry, that's
the best you get on short notice. [grin]
- --
glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846,
http://tempusdictum.comPower never takes a back step - only in the face of more power. -- Malcolm X
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