Mike, On 6/15/08, Mike Tintner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Steve: 1) This is EXACTLY where reverse reductio ad absurdum logic enters > the picture.Most (all?) persistent conflicts reduced to some absurd and > apparently irresolvable argument. ...2) simply drill down into EXACTLY what > they think > > Statement 1 is almost ridiculous. How many conflicts did logic ever > resolve? Even Descartes had contempt for logic. >
You ****COMPLETELY**** missed my point! *Reverse* reductio ad absurdum logic is only ~8 years old and has yet to be tried on any persistent conflict. > > Science is full of conflicts. Evolution happened by a) natural selection b) > Lamarckism c)... Intelligence is a matter of a) genes b) nurture c) > practice. Cancer is due to etc. etc. Use logic to resolve any of > science's conflicts... Puh-lease. > The problem here and elsewhere is the use of forward-only reasoning. Perhaps you remember your differential equations class (that I almost flunked)? There, you had to propose a solution that there was no direct way to derive, and then prove that you had indeed found the correct solution. I used a (early analog) computer to plot these out so I could better guess the solutions. This sort of inductive logic is MISSING from most people and AGI proposals. There are some logic principles that transcend tractable proof or the ability to acquire in a reasonable-length lifetime. Certainly, any of the unsolved math problems fall into this category. Reverse reductio ad absurdum is one such principle. The verbal "proof" is relatively simple, but this still defies formulaic proof. Note in passing that professional negotiators believe that there is always a "win-win solution" in every conflict. Reverse reductio ad absurdum simply supports this and guides the way to finding those win-sin solutions. > > Statement 2 though has promise... > Yes - once you drill down into religious disputes, they pretty much fall apart. Steve Richfield ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=106510220-47b225 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
