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Re: The Lisp Curse

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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Ben Bacarisse wrote:
) (a) I don't think the sky is blue.  I know that it is.
)
) (b) Keats: "Beauty is truth"
)     Carritt: "I don't think beauty is truth!"
)
) (c) I don't think all of this discussion is silly.
)
) Example (a) shows that we sometime want to put the emphasis on the
) thinking itself rather than on the "thinking not"
)
) (b) shows that we may want to keep the pattern "x is y" either for the
) rhetorical effect or simply to avoid a messy re-write.
)
) Finally, example (c) shows that some instantiations of x in "I don't
) think x is y" make "I think x is not y" quite a different statement.

Example (c) is a bit contrived, as the obvious way of putting it
pedantically is:

(c) I think not all of this discussion is silly.

Which is obviously because it wasn't "I don't think x is y" as is.


However, to put it more simply, "I don't think (proposition)" is a
qolloquially valid form of "I have doubts on (proposition)", even though
purely logically it means something different.  Language is not logic.

Note that it is *not* the same as "I think (not proposition)".
Claiming that it is, is the logical fallacy of the excluded middle.


SaSW, Willem
-- 
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any of the statements
            made in the above text. For all I know I might be
            drugged or something..
            No I'm not paranoid. You all think I'm paranoid, don't you !
#EOT

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Re: The Lisp Curse Mentifex <mentifex@myuw.net> - 2011-06-29 15:41 -0700
  Re: The Lisp Curse "Fuschia, President-Elect of the Bright Purplish-Green Council" <fp-eotbp-gc@ibm.com> - 2011-06-29 19:16 -0400
  Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-06-30 09:47 +0200
    Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-06-30 02:27 -0700
      Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-06-30 14:28 +0200
        Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-06-30 14:06 -0700
          Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-01 23:25 +0200
            Re: The Lisp Curse "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-07-02 00:32 +0200
              Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 09:49 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-07-02 12:23 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 15:30 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-07-02 17:06 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 18:09 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse James Waldby <not@valid.invalid> - 2011-07-02 17:23 +0000
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 20:50 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse luser droog <mijoryx@yahoo.com> - 2011-07-17 22:14 -0700
                Re: The Lisp Curse Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-07-18 14:10 +0100
                Re: The Lisp Curse Willem <willem@toad.stack.nl> - 2011-07-18 14:13 +0000
                Re: The Lisp Curse Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-07-18 16:18 +0100
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-07-02 19:47 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 20:56 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Alf P. Steinbach /Usenet" <alf.p.steinbach+usenet@gmail.com> - 2011-07-02 23:01 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-03 10:45 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-07-02 10:00 -0700
                Re: The Lisp Curse luser droog <mijoryx@yahoo.com> - 2011-07-17 04:09 -0700
                Re: The Lisp Curse "James" <no@spam.invalid> - 2011-07-03 12:06 -0700
            Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-07-01 21:22 -0700
              Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 09:47 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-07-02 02:10 -0700
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 15:29 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-07-02 10:03 -0700
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-02 20:47 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2011-07-02 20:29 -0700
                Re: The Lisp Curse "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de> - 2011-07-03 10:53 +0200
                Re: The Lisp Curse tm <thomas.mertes@gmx.at> - 2011-07-03 23:42 -0700
        Re: The Lisp Curse Fritz Wuehler <fritz@spamexpire-201107.rodent.frell.theremailer.net> - 2011-07-03 14:40 +0200

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