Sophisticated-religion.jpg (JPEG Image, 396x552 pixels) Top 20 Logical Fallacies - The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. Introduction to Argument Structure of a Logical Argument Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, our arguments all follow a certain basic structure. They begin with one or more premises, which are facts that the argument takes for granted as the starting point. Then a principle of logic is applied in order to come to a conclusion. Premise1: If A = B, Premise2: and B = C Logical connection: Then (apply principle of equivalence) Conclusion: A = C In order for an argument to be considered valid the logical form of the argument must work – must be valid.
Also it is important to note that an argument may use wrong information, or faulty logic to reach a conclusion that happens to be true. Breaking down an argument into its components is a very useful exercise, for it enables us to examine both our own arguments and those of others and critically analyze them for validity. Examine your Premises As stated above, in order for an argument to be sound all of its premises must be true. Why Nerds are Unpopular. February 2003 When we were in junior high school, my friend Rich and I made a map of the school lunch tables according to popularity. This was easy to do, because kids only ate lunch with others of about the same popularity. We graded them from A to E. A tables were full of football players and cheerleaders and so on. E tables contained the kids with mild cases of Down's Syndrome, what in the language of the time we called "retards. " We sat at a D table, as low as you could get without looking physically different.
My stock gradually rose during high school. I know a lot of people who were nerds in school, and they all tell the same story: there is a strong correlation between being smart and being a nerd, and an even stronger inverse correlation between being a nerd and being popular. Why? The key to this mystery is to rephrase the question slightly. In the schools I went to, being smart just didn't matter much. If someone had told me that at the time, I would have laughed at him. Why? The Century Of Self Part 1 (of 4) Happiness Machines.