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Many of our ideas about the world are based more on feelings than facts, sensibilities than science, and rage than reality. We gravitate toward ideas that make us feel comfortable in areas such as religion, politics, philosophy, social justice, love and sex, humanity, and morality. We avoid ideas that make us feel uncomfortable. This avoidance is a largely unconscious process that affects our judgment and gets in the way of our ability to reach rational and reasonable conclusions. By understanding how our mind works in this area, we can start embracing uncomfortable ideas and be better informed, be more understanding of others, and make better decisions in all areas of life.
* This is for the author's bookstore only. Applies to autographed hardcover, audiobook, and ebook.
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Appeal to consequences applies when you argue that the truth/falsity of a statement is based on the consequences it would have. E.g. "My grandmother cannot be dying from cancer, because it would break up the family." "I'm certain to win the lottery, because it would help my wife and I pay off the mortgage on our house." It's basically a non sequitur in the sense that a statement's truth value is determined based on whether it has positive or negative consequences, when that is actually irrelevant to whether it is true or not. It doesn't apply to moral judgements (e.g. "we should restrict free speech because if we do not, we risk a far-right resurgence") because we are not affirming/denying truth (descriptive), we are suggesting behaviour (prescriptive). This is a mere unsupported claim, possibly an opinion. |
answered on Sunday, Jun 13, 2021 08:53:14 AM by TrappedPrior (RotE) | |
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