When constructing logical arguments in a casual setting or about messy concepts, don’t use forms like ‘A and B implies X’ or ‘A and B, therefore X’ Because it is far too easy for us to take one thing to mean another, and label it an implication, perhaps without even realizing the step is there.
“The ground is wet therefore it’s raining.” is an easy thought to have, but Y almost never implies X when dealing with such complex situations.
I think this can be avoided by structures like ‘X is defined as A and B’ and ‘A and B, which is the definition of X’.
‘The ground is wet, which is the definition of rain’ and ‘the alarm went off, and there was a earthquake, which is the definition of not being robbed’ and ‘being human is what we mean by being mortal’ are clearly wrong. ‘Dying when administered hemlock is the definition of mortal’ at least has the right idea.
Y never implies X unless Y is exactly what you mean by X, or you really want to use the term in the hard logical sense.
A notion I had recently but have not tested:
When constructing logical arguments in a casual setting or about messy concepts, don’t use forms like ‘A and B implies X’ or ‘A and B, therefore X’ Because it is far too easy for us to take one thing to mean another, and label it an implication, perhaps without even realizing the step is there.
“The ground is wet therefore it’s raining.” is an easy thought to have, but Y almost never implies X when dealing with such complex situations.
I think this can be avoided by structures like ‘X is defined as A and B’ and ‘A and B, which is the definition of X’.
‘The ground is wet, which is the definition of rain’ and ‘the alarm went off, and there was a earthquake, which is the definition of not being robbed’ and ‘being human is what we mean by being mortal’ are clearly wrong. ‘Dying when administered hemlock is the definition of mortal’ at least has the right idea.
Y never implies X unless Y is exactly what you mean by X, or you really want to use the term in the hard logical sense.