Speaking positively

The other day, I was looking at soup cans in a grocery store. I noticed that a few of them had a little logo on them that said something about being heart-healthy. Upon a closer look, I discovered that “heart-healthy” meant that it was low in saturated fats. The label did not advertise the fact that the soup was loaded with sodium. Saturated fats in large quantities are detrimental to the heart, but so is sodium. This fairly unimportant example of misleading advertisement demonstrates two ways in which members of our society systematically deceive and delude themselves with the misuse of language.

Read the whole story...

The limitations of superpowers

I watched Megamind last night with my friends. One of the characters is a “superhero” called Titan, who ends up being less of a hero than the city was hoping for. The entire movie asks viewers what they would do with superpowers. Really, it asks viewers what a villain is, what a hero is, and which one each of us is.

Read the whole story...

Optimizing away efficiency

I’ve been changing lots of things in my life and I’ve been considering several other changes. I’m in the process of changing banks, I’ve been thinking about moving in with some friends, the way I go about dating is constantly changing as I learn, and I’ve been organizing some of my congregation’s efforts to reach out. My schoolwork hasn’t lessened and I’m trying to have a social life (which includes, but is not limited to, dating).

As I wondered about these changes and the time they’ve required, I began to see a pattern. It’s not that they’re all necessary; it’s another form of perfectionism. I’m always looking for ways to improve things.

Read the whole story...

A pain in the wrists

I haven’t been blogging much recently. Part of the reason is that I’ve been really busy with school and so on. But a very important reason is that I’ve been trying to type as little as possible because of wrist pain, which seems to be caused by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

It turns out that “as little as possible” is still quite a bit for a graduate student in computer science.

Read the whole story...

A little stroll

This morning, I chose to walk across campus instead of taking the shuttle. It was a very pleasant walk - the air was crisp and not insanely cold and I took some time to think. I even reminisced about dancing the country polka.

When I got to the engineering building, there were several minutes before class started. I decided to go up to a little lookout point to appreciate something beautiful.

The haze immediately convinced me that the walk could have done more damage to my lungs than it benefited them.

Utah, I think it's time we did something about the air here.

Stepping off my soapbox

I wrote an article about communication a little while ago. I have strong feelings about communication because it is crucial to the success of relationships and relationships are what life is all about.

To be perfectly fair, my temperament puts me on one extreme of the spectrum of communication styles: I’m direct. This, I’m sure, will not surprise anyone who knows me. It’s not that I can’t pick up on unspoken messages or read between the lines; it’s that I’m always uncertain if I’m interpreting things correctly (that is, in a way that harmonizes with reality). My inability to discern the meaning behind veiled communications has caused me no end of trouble and I’ve chosen to rebel against the system.

Read the whole story...

How to spot errors in political (and other) arguments

Introduction

There are several logical fallacies (or errors) that are lamentably common in political discourse (and normal conversation) today. What's worse, people - even educated people - seem to be persuaded by these fallacious (that is, flawed) arguments. This post will point out a few common ones and will conclude with an assignment designed to challenge the reader to apply his/her new knowledge.

Before diving into the details, I should explain the structure of a logical argument. First, the speaker (for simplicity, I'll assume that the speaker is female) explains premises, or the facts and ideas that are the basis of her argument. She then applies reason - formally, argument forms - to reach some conclusion. The use of valid argument forms and true premises guarantees that the conclusion reached is true. It is possible to disagree with an argument on the basis of a premise or on the basis of an error in reasoning.

It is also important to note that most debates actually center around things that aren't rigorously provable. For example, many political arguments cite statistics that may or may not consider all of the possible causes and outcomes. The studies provide evidence but do not provide proof. In many cases, the arguments can't be disproved, either. The room for debate is what makes political discourse interesting and this post won't make everyone agree. I hope that the information in this post will help to improve the quality of our conversations.

Read the whole story...