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From: jqb@netcom.com (Jim Balter)
Subject: Re: Penrose and Searle (was Re: Roger Penrose's fixed ideas)
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References: <CzzuEu.F48@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca> <3c7pme$hc2@news1.shell> <jqbD0LGrB.G91@netcom.com> <3cdfke$96b@news1.shell>
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Date: Sun, 11 Dec 1994 09:30:26 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu sci.skeptic:97753 comp.ai.philosophy:23546 sci.philosophy.meta:15500

In article <3cdfke$96b@news1.shell>, Hal <hfinney@shell.portal.com> wrote:
>jqb@netcom.com (Jim Balter) writes:
>
>>In article <3c7pme$hc2@news1.shell>, Hal <hfinney@shell.portal.com> wrote:
>>>Let me ask you what you think is the connection, if any, between people
>>>who want more than the TT and racists.
>
>>They both drink water.
>
>>Oh, and they both have biases.
>
>These things can be said of all men.  Yet racists come up in the
>discussion far more commonly than, say, barbers.  I think you are being
>disengenuous and pretending that this linkage has not been made
>rhetorically.  Others, such as Andrzej Pindor, have answered this
>question sincerely and honestly.  A dialog is possible with him.

You and Dalton have spoken of racism; no one else.  I am not being ingenuous,
I think that to move from a serious point about bias to a claim of
insinuating racism is either belligerent refusal to debate honestly or
a true lack of intellectual skills.  I'm not sure which, but I am beginning
to find either quite boring.

>>How can we have an intelligent discussion when inference rules like
>>"P -> Q; R -> Q; therefore P and R are connected" are used?
>
>This is the kind of statement that would be made by a fool.
>(Have I insulted you?)

"I love my mother" is "the kind of statement that would be made by a fool".
As I said, a true lack of intellectual skills.  Whether you insulted me depends
upon your intent.  Look the up word "insult" in a dictionary.  If you are asking
whether you have succeeded in lowering my self-esteem, I assure you that
you have not.

Now, if we can drop the ad hominems ("disingenuous", "pretending", "fool")
and the bogus claims of insinuations, we might have a profitable discussion.
However, as I said, I am getting bored, and next week I am leaving for more
enjoyable idle pursuits, so you might get more satisfaction following
Jocelyn Elders' dictates.
-- 
<J Q B>
