XPost: talk.politics, alt.law-enforcement, alt.true-crime   
   XPost: talk.philosophy.humanism   
   From: spam@hotmail.com   
      
   Don Swayser wrote:   
   > David V. wrote:   
   >   
   >> Chris wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> "David V."  wrote   
   >>>   
   >>>>> Then you believe that the rise and fall of the murder   
   >>>>> rate which coincides with the abolition and   
   >>>>> reinstatement of the death penalty is a coincidence?   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Yes. There is nothing to prove they are connected.   
   >>>   
   >>> Probably....   
   >>   
   >> I see you have nothing to prove they're connected. Just   
   >> because to pieces of data exist does not mean they are   
   >> connected.   
   >   
   > Maybe when you grow up ...   
      
   I see all you have is ad hominem. Do try better. Chris   
   claims that two stats are connected yet cannot back that up   
   in any rational way. Maybe when you guys grow up, you'll   
   understand. We're dealing with simple, first year,   
   philosophy. Simply, your conclusion that the two stats are   
   related is called; Cum hoc ergo propter hoc   
      
   This fallacy is similar to post hoc ergo propter hoc. The   
   fallacy is to assert that because two events occur together,   
   they must be causally related. It's a fallacy because it   
   ignores other factors that may be the cause(s) of the events.   
      
        "Literacy rates have steadily declined since the advent   
   of television. Clearly television viewing impedes learning."   
      
   This fallacy is a special case of the more general non causa   
   pro causa.   
   --   
   David V.   
   Yosemite Llama Ranch   
      
   UDP for WebTV   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)