A Lesson in Logic
Contraposition is a pretty interesting substitution rule. It’s essentially judo for material conditionals, a complete reversal. With that in mind, let’s get into it, and use it in a couple of proofs. Read More
May
19
May
16
Knights
Words of Power
I just got back from Kalamazoo and the International Congress on Medieval Studies, which always puts me in a bit of a medieval frame of mind, so I thought I’d talk about something medieval that fascinates me. Thus, knights. I should stress that this has little or nothing to do with actual historical knights, but rather the ideas we have about knights and chivalry. The medievalism, rather than the medieval itself. Thinking about knights reminds me of important things that, to my chagrin, I sometimes forget. Read More
May
12
Conditional Exchange
A Lesson in Logic
I’m soaking up the amazing academic atmosphere in Kalamazoo, Michigan right now, but even that won’t stop the logic from getting through. Today’s substitution rule is the first really interesting one, and might prove to be a bit challenging. We’re going to transform a material conditional into something else, like magic. Well, okay, not like magic. There will be no wand waving. Unless you bid on this kickass amazing wand from Magical Alley during Headshots from the Heart, that is! We’ll be auctioning it live during the event on May 26th and 27th, and 100% of the proceeds will go to children’s hospitals! You can find it and a lot of other awesome auction items on our loot page! Just saying. Anyway, logic! Read More
May
09
Minecraft
Something I’ve been doing a lot lately is playing Minecraft. I just started last week, and I’m completely hooked (I knew I would be, which is why I waited this long to get on that particular boat). It’s a game that intrigues me for a lot of reasons, some of which I want to talk about here. See, it’s teaching me things. And you know how much I love games that will teach me things (Stay tuned for later this summer when I try and learn some things from Eve Online). Read More
May
05
Duplication and Commutation
A Lesson in Logic
Today I’ve just got a couple of really simple substitution rules. Duplication probably won’t come up very often in regular life, but it’s necessary for a complete set. Commutation, on the other hand, is a little more common. Both of them are pretty straightforward, so we won’t spend too much time on them. Read More
May
02
Child’s Play
Today’s post is a reblog of a post I wrote for Headshots from the Heart, which also went up today. We’re raising money for Child’s Play by playing Borderlands for twenty-four hours on a live webcast. There’ll be entertainment, auctions, prizes, and if we raise $1000, I might have to let them shave my head.
One of the questions I get asked when I talk about the event with people, apart from “What’s Borderlands? (It’s a cooperative first person shooter game with an awesome art style that came out a few years ago) and “Headshots?” (Instead of just donating, you can pledge to support us by the headshot, forcing us to earn your money through skillful play, which by hour twelve is going to be pretty tough), the most common question is “Child’s Play?” It’s a what and why question, and we’re actually lucky enough to be able to have one of the leads, Jamie Dillion, call in to the show and talk about it, but it’s worth talking about beforehand. Read More
Apr
28
Substitution Rules
A Lesson in Logic
Now that we’ve finished all of the rules of inference, it’s time to get into substitution rules. See, you can’t change a set of symbols without applying some kind of rule to do so, in order to make sure that the change actually follows from. Substitution rules are a different set of rules with a different function, and should be pretty straightforward. Read More
Apr
25
A Study in Intersectionality
Pulp Philosophy
It’s been a while since I wrote one of these, but I’ve been reading some comics in my off time from working on Headshots from the Heart, which is an awesome fundraiser I’m involved with to help children’s hospitals. Check it out! We have a ton of great sponsors, and it’ll be a lot of fun. Plugs aside, I ran across this character in an obscure Marvel comic, and something about her really hit home. Read More
Apr
21
Contradictions
A Lesson in Logic
The final thing worth discussing before moving into substitution rules is contradictions. What they are, how they’re formulated, and why they’re a problem in most instances of logic. Read More
Apr
18
Back to Marilyn
So now I want to bring things back from Batman and the Prisoner’s Dilemma to Marilyn, through a somewhat roundabout way. Marilyn Monroe said that we had to learn that we could only trust ourselves, and there’s sets of circumstances where that seems true, at first glance. But in the long run, it seems like that isn’t a good idea. Read More
