Author Topic: does the means justify the end?  (Read 2594 times)

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Offline Rumblood

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #30 on: October 17, 2013, 04:18:11 am »
0
Enlighten us, how is this...

Ad infinitum?

People using terms they don't know is so cute.

You are demonstrating it with this very post.
"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday" – Abraham Lincoln

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Offline Xant

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #31 on: October 17, 2013, 04:18:47 am »
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You are demonstrating it with this very post.
You are demonstrating it with this very post.
Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.

Offline Rumblood

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #32 on: October 17, 2013, 04:26:22 am »
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You are demonstrating it with this very post.

no u
"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday" – Abraham Lincoln

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Offline Xant

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #33 on: October 17, 2013, 04:40:46 am »
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no u
I'm glad you too realized that your level of argumentation was at that level.
Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.

Offline EponiCo

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #34 on: October 17, 2013, 04:53:47 am »
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"ends" and "means" are human-defined concepts that do not exist in the physical world. Now that I think of it, "justify" doesn't exist either, as it implies ethics.

What do you mean by physical world? Electrons and natural laws are human concepts as well.
And I don't know about exists, but I know sometimes you have to ask yourself "ok, so what should I do?". Well, I have, anyway. (Natural) sciences are handy for answering the question "ok, let's assume I did so and so, what will happen next?" but outside of that they're really optional.

Offline Xant

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #35 on: October 17, 2013, 05:25:33 am »
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Electrons are not human concepts. Electron is a human name for a concept.
Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.

Offline Rumblood

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #36 on: October 17, 2013, 06:42:21 am »
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I'm glad you too realized that your level of argumentation was at that level.

Ad Infinitum.  :lol:
"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday" – Abraham Lincoln

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Offline Xant

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #37 on: October 17, 2013, 06:47:29 am »
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Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.

Offline Oberyn

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #38 on: October 17, 2013, 08:51:07 am »
+1
I'm not sure that sentence and the rest of your post after it matches up at all. I guess that depends on what you mean by "able to function".

Leshma contradicting himself in only one post is nothing unusual. There's a reason his forum title was "schizophrenic" for a while.
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Offline Kafein

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #39 on: October 17, 2013, 10:59:17 am »
+1
cmp and Urist argue ad hominem, Bjord and Xant argue ad infinitum, Panos and Oberyn argue ad xenophobis and I eat popcorn.


What do you mean by physical world? Electrons and natural laws are human concepts as well.

The outside world would work the same way without humans to understand it.

And I don't know about exists, but I know sometimes you have to ask yourself "ok, so what should I do?". Well, I have, anyway. (Natural) sciences are handy for answering the question "ok, let's assume I did so and so, what will happen next?" but outside of that they're really optional.

It's only science mangled with human concepts that will help you make better life choices. We are not equipped to perceive and reason at a level where scientific knowledge would actually be relevant. We deal entirely in laconic perceptions of huge phenomena and take action based on these perceptions, our memories, our hardwired desires and some fuzzy reasoning thrown in.

Offline Dooz

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #40 on: October 17, 2013, 12:12:53 pm »
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you guys suck
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Offline Xant

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #41 on: October 17, 2013, 03:00:00 pm »
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Xant argue ad infinitum
How would the world look different were I not arguing "ad infinitum" but instead answering questions and providing counter-arguments? Apparently that is "ad infinitum", the only proper redneck way of debating is drive-by style where you say something and then flee the thread when your post is questioned.
Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.

Offline Kafein

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #42 on: October 18, 2013, 01:37:15 pm »
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How would the world look different were I not arguing "ad infinitum" but instead answering questions and providing counter-arguments? Apparently that is "ad infinitum", the only proper redneck way of debating is drive-by style where you say something and then flee the thread when your post is questioned.

Aah the Parthian Arrow, we all love to do that.

I was saying that your mode of arguing is precisely "answering questions and providing counter-arguments", which leads to ad infinitum discussions if the other party just doesn't listen to your arguments, which can be fairly summarized as "always".

Offline Bjord

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #43 on: October 18, 2013, 01:40:36 pm »
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Nobody listens to Xant's arguments? That sounds about right. :wink:
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Offline Xant

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Re: does the means justify the end?
« Reply #44 on: October 18, 2013, 02:08:44 pm »
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Aah the Parthian Arrow, we all love to do that.

I was saying that your mode of arguing is precisely "answering questions and providing counter-arguments", which leads to ad infinitum discussions if the other party just doesn't listen to your arguments, which can be fairly summarized as "always".
Yes, well, better that than the Parthian arrow. But it doesn't quite go on infinitely, it just takes a long time to get to the bottom of my opinions with people whom I have a very large inferential distance with. Which would be most people here. If people wish to call careful and thorough arguing "ad inifinitum", that's fine with me. It is, of course, easier to shout "ad inifinitum!" and beat a brave retreat when faced with difficult counter-arguments, than to actually answer those arguments properly. Which is what has happened every single time someone has claimed that with me; I've barely scratched the surface of the matter at hand at that point.
Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.