5.16.2005

Hello there.

So I'm here a the green bean listening to jazz music. I talked to a cute girl. (i have a date wednesday). I'm psyched 'cause I like my job. I'm still angry with npr about this mornings morning edition. The repeated the right wings lies about the Newsweek story. So I sent their ombudsman this email

Dear Jeffrey,

We've spoken on many occasions about the "there are two sides to every story" lie and about the creeping rightwing bent on NPR (your inteview with a guy from Project for a new american Century about Negroponte). Here is some education for you and your editors on both the Newsweek story (today's morning edition) and the Lebanon story(past shows). To spell it out for you our invading Iraq did not have anything to do with the protests in Lebanon. Neither did the Newsweek article about what really happened in Guantanamo (check human rights watch's report in 2004) the cause of anyone's death in Afghanistan. When you report from print media you should think critically. I'm informing you of this logically fallacy because your editorial staff seems to not understand it. Or ....they may not have a handle on the facts. Report the news not the right wing whining. No matter who your boss is. Distribute or discuss this from http://www.datanation.com/fallacies/posthoc.htm.

Coincidental Correlation
(post hoc ergo propter hoc )


Definition:
The name in Latin means "after this therefore because of this".
This describes the fallacy. An author commits the fallacy when
it is assumed that because one thing follows another that the
one thing was caused by the other.
Examples:
(i) Immigration to Alberta from Ontario increased. Soon
after, the welfare rolls increased. Therefore, the increased
immigration caused the increased welfare rolls.
(ii) I took EZ-No-Cold, and two days later, my cold
disappeared.

Proof:
Show that the correlation is coincidental by showing that: (i)
the effect would have occurred even if the cause did not
occur, or (ii) that the effect was caused by something other
than the suggested cause.
References
(Cedarblom and Paulsen: 237, Copi and Cohen: 101)

No comments: