I’m not sure why you chose to post this as a response to my rewrite, but that doesn’t detract form the validity of the post.
I’m well acquainted with the fallacy you linked to; that’s actually been one of my favorite of Eliezer’s articles. It is unfortunate that this and other fallacies abound in real-world arguments… however, I trust you understand that the existence of fallacies does not equate to a false conclusion. If I base my conclusion X on arguments A, B, C and D, and D is fallacious, X may still happily rest on A, B and C.
In particular, there’s a difference between the hopeless grasping-at-straws of the “there’s a chance it’s a coincidence!” argument and the “This does not necessarily contradict what we’re saying” argument. In the latter, there are also positive evidences to bolster the conclusion; it is true then that negative evidences (by that I mean, evidences which show no support for the conclusion, but do not disprove it) nudge the probability does, but not as much as the positive evidences nudge it up. In the former, all there is is wishful thinking.
I trust you understand that the existence of fallacies does not equate to a false conclusion. If I base my conclusion X on arguments A, B, C and D, and D is fallacious, X may still happily rest on A, B and C.
I just think that if the DNA evidence isn’t there then how can i consider the possibility of the book of Mormon having any truth to it. It feels a lot like considering the possibility of Intelligent Design as the origin of humanity. If A, B, and C preclude the existence of D then X is weakened more by the disproof of D then if it is a standalone piece of evidence.
But the DNA evidence is there. You pointed to a piece of it, and then said “but the rest is mostly bull”. But that doesn’t mean that the evidence you found ceases to be valid.
I’m not sure why you chose to post this as a response to my rewrite, but that doesn’t detract form the validity of the post.
I’m well acquainted with the fallacy you linked to; that’s actually been one of my favorite of Eliezer’s articles. It is unfortunate that this and other fallacies abound in real-world arguments… however, I trust you understand that the existence of fallacies does not equate to a false conclusion. If I base my conclusion X on arguments A, B, C and D, and D is fallacious, X may still happily rest on A, B and C.
In particular, there’s a difference between the hopeless grasping-at-straws of the “there’s a chance it’s a coincidence!” argument and the “This does not necessarily contradict what we’re saying” argument. In the latter, there are also positive evidences to bolster the conclusion; it is true then that negative evidences (by that I mean, evidences which show no support for the conclusion, but do not disprove it) nudge the probability does, but not as much as the positive evidences nudge it up. In the former, all there is is wishful thinking.
I just think that if the DNA evidence isn’t there then how can i consider the possibility of the book of Mormon having any truth to it. It feels a lot like considering the possibility of Intelligent Design as the origin of humanity. If A, B, and C preclude the existence of D then X is weakened more by the disproof of D then if it is a standalone piece of evidence.
But the DNA evidence is there. You pointed to a piece of it, and then said “but the rest is mostly bull”. But that doesn’t mean that the evidence you found ceases to be valid.