atheism, philosophy and emotional immaturity

[catfish]

Oh yeah, Fuck the AMA too!
.

[jstrodel]

Thanks for being a good example of what I am saying Mr Infidel. I can see from your profile that you are under 20. You posted an image of propaganda telling people to think for yourself, but you didn't argue why, you just repeated what they told you.

Do you see how this is contradictory to the message? If you thought for yourself, wouldn't you defend your ideas clearly and not repeat a trite slogan?

I am not trying to be insulting, I think that you should consider what I am saying. When I was young, I used to do crazy things and rebel against people and think I was thinking for myself and this and that. Really, I was just following the trends of the counterculture which was using all these ideas to try and mold me into the atheist/socialist they wanted me to become.

If you feel the need to question authority, do you also question the application of questioning authority? Do you question the relevance of questioning authority to the message I posted? Do you think you should question the authority of the people who say the argument from authority is fallacious? To do this requires an analysis.

I am not against questioning authority, but I think the principle should be applied with wisdom. It is not good to question the authority of doctors and say "If you have cancer, don't go to the doctor, I am questioning authority". Authority is a good thing. That is how the world works, there are authorities because some know more than others.

---

So what you're basically saying is you're older, smarter, wiser, and humbler than everyone else on the boards?

Seems legit.

Than the people who think the argument from authority is fallacious, yes. There are plenty of people who know more about many things, that is not relevant to the question of whether a lot of people have basic reasoning skills.

[Silver]

Thanks for being a good example of what I am saying Mr Infidel. I can see from your profile that you are under 20.

My profile does not display my birthday or my age, and you would be wrong. I am much older than twenty.

[jstrodel]

Even then, it's still a fallacy. Argument of authority, argument from popularity, increase the chance of something being true often, and depending on the subject, increase it significantly. But doctors even have prescribed things that ended up being discovered to be very harmful, and it was agreed upon by the authorities. And medical authority is the best authority out there, yet even then, it's not 100% immune to error.

I've said it before, argument from ignorance is also often a strong argument. If it wasn't strong at all, the problem of evil would not have bothered anyone nor would anyone use it as an argument. But it's a fallacy at the end.

It isn't a fallacy. Because something isn't 100% perfect doesn't make it a fallacy. It is not fallacious to consider what a doctor says simply because they are a doctor. That doesn't mean that it is 100% perfect.

Practically, the way that people learn is through tradition and prejudice, it is not purely through reason. The vast majority of people cannot use reason effectively, and when they do, it is always a cooperative enterprise, relying on the authorities of various people at different levels. This is the way the modern world functions, doesn't mean that different parts of each thing isn't subject to scrutiny, but it is not the same as being an observer of everything going on.

[My imaginary friend is GOD]

This is you. ->

[catfish]

^^^^ That seems oddly sugestive...

[Something completely different]

[Mystic]

Even then, it's still a fallacy. Argument of authority, argument from popularity, increase the chance of something being true often, and depending on the subject, increase it significantly. But doctors even have prescribed things that ended up being discovered to be very harmful, and it was agreed upon by the authorities. And medical authority is the best authority out there, yet even then, it's not 100% immune to error.

I've said it before, argument from ignorance is also often a strong argument. If it wasn't strong at all, the problem of evil would not have bothered anyone nor would anyone use it as an argument. But it's a fallacy at the end.

It isn't a fallacy. Because something isn't 100% perfect doesn't make it a fallacy. It is not fallacious to consider what a doctor says simply because they are a doctor. That doesn't mean that it is 100% perfect.

Practically, the way that people learn is through tradition and prejudice, it is not purely through reason. The vast majority of people cannot use reason effectively, and when they do, it is always a cooperative enterprise, relying on the authorities of various people at different levels. This is the way the modern world functions, doesn't mean that different parts of each thing isn't subject to scrutiny, but it is not the same as being an observer of everything going on.

Argument from authority is quite simple. It means "Authorities said so, so therefore it is true". That is a fallacy.

I don't know what you are defining the argument from authority of being but the argument from authority is exactly that.

The argument from ignorance is even often more stronger then argument from authority. Because if most humans or all humans we come across cannot think of a reason, it seems very likely that reason doesn't exist. But it's a fallacy never the less.

[jstrodel]

Prove that it is a fallacy to say "My doctor told me cigarettes cause cancer so based only on this, it is likely that cigarettes cause cancer". Where does fallacious reasoning enter that?

[Joel]

Prove that it is a fallacy to say "My doctor told me cigarettes cause cancer so based only on this, it is likely that cigarettes cause cancer". Where does fallacious reasoning enter that?

That's not the same as "My doctor said cigarettes cause cancer, therefore cigarettes cause cancer."

What you said is not fallacious. It is trust. "I trust that he is correct, because he is more knowledgeable than I on this subject."

EDIT: Though, reading your quote, I may disagree... With myself.
"based on only this" do you mean therefore?