Confederacy of a Dunce - Another found note

Friday, October 28, 2005

« The perfect crime | Main | Trick or treat »

On the bus today I found an index card. Someone had written, in big, bold letters

LOGICLE
FALLACY

I love the misspelling of "logical" (not unique to this particular instance) and have been pondering the purpose of the LOGICLE FALLACY card. Maybe it was part of a set, reflecting common errors of logic (others in the set might be AD HOMINUM [or AD HOMMINEM], BEGING THE QUESTION, CIRCULER ARGUMENT, FALSE ANNALOGY and so on). But there was nothing written on the back so it wasn't a flash card. Maybe it was part of something like a Buzzword Bingo set. I've been at a lot of academic talks in which scribbled notes are exchanged about the speaker's idiocy, ignorance or foolishness, but most of these are in, errrr, a more informal register. No, I think this card was intended for display. Woe betide anyone who tries to sneak a LOGICLE FALLACY past me from now on as I am ready for you.

Friday, October 28, 2005 1:23:59 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

Disclaimer | Comments [3] |

Saturday, October 29, 2005 4:54:03 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

That would make a great addition to any deck of cards. Oooh, imagine the possibilities...

The Thief

Sunday, October 30, 2005 5:32:03 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

That's an amazing card to find on a bus. I wonder what kinds of academic talks you attend.

arcite | arciteAT NOSPAMexcite dot com

Monday, October 31, 2005 12:41:32 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

@arcite: Various talks about language, cognition and neuroscience. Most recently a talk by Marc Hauser entitled "The Faculty of Language: Uniquely Human and Uniquely Linguistic" (he's published a couple of recent [and controversial] papers on this topic with obscure academic Noam Chomsky). Several other members of the audience looked like they could have used a LOCICLE FALLACY card.

The Dunce