So yes, I question this supposed rule that a negative is automatically better than a positive.Purple Knight wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 11:15 pmThis is a perfect example of why I tend to reject the atheist mantra that negative claims are automatically superior to positive ones.AgnosticBoy wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 7:20 pmI won't go as far as saying that Trump would've found enough fraud to overturn the election had he been successful with getting both manual recounts with added oversight, but the main point is had there been fraud, then it would've likely been caught under those conditions (recounts w/ added oversight). But as it stands, that wasn't done, and therefore I can't claim that this election had no fraud nor errors, and without knowing that, I can't claim that elections are "fair".
"The election was fair." Well, that certainly seems like a positive claim, ne?
"There was some sort of fraud or cheating." Oh. Well. This seems like a positive claim, too.
Yet these are logically contradictory premises. One must be true and the other must be false.
Which claim is positive and which claim is negative is often a matter of phraseology and there's not a clear, logical answer.
I also question whether ad hominem is a fallacy. I lean toward it's not one.
Why don't more people do this? If we treat logic like a religion aren't we as bad as the other guys? Not just as bad, but worse, because I don't think religious people are getting a fair shake here, and this is the bit that bothers me.
Too many religious people have simply accepted that logic-philes (logophiles actually means you like words) get to set up the board and determine how the pieces move, and who gets the first one. We say, oh, black gets the first move, and then we always give ourselves black.
Now see here: We have rigged the game. We have rigged the game by forcing them to play on our board when we're just as religious as they are if not more. If this was not the case, more people would be questioning these rules.
I still don't believe in God and I still do believe in logic but this is why I want a bloody fair fight, for crying out loud!!!
The religiosos ought to have kicked over this board long ago, but they were tricked into thinking the board was fair. It wasn't. So here; I'll do it for you: You can bloody well question these supposed rules. Any of them. Especially anything informal. Question it. All of it. You're allowed. Encouraged.
*kick*