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People love logic but they don’t like to be pushed around by it. The Glory of Logic. For Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.500 BCE) the basic principle of the universe was the logos , i.e. the fact that it was rationally organized and therefore understandable.
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People love logic butthey don’t like to be pushed around by it
The Glory of Logic • For Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.500 BCE) the basic principle of the universe was the logos, i.e. the fact that it was rationally organized and therefore understandable. • Unfortunately, glory in one’s logic leads to arrogance – mathematicians, chess masters, philosophers and others can sometimes become unbearably arrogant. And nothing makes people feel more stupid than being exposed logically.
The love of logic • People love testing their logic so long as they are not put to the test (i.e. put to the sword) by it.
The case of the twin wizards • They were born as reflections of each other: one was called MaT, the other TaM. One was a soothsayer the other a naysayer, but which was the one who always lied and which the one who always told the truth, no one knew because they looked identical. Allowed to ask one and the same question of them both about their truthfulness, how can you know which one is MaT?
Doors and Wizards • In a circular room there are doors to the North, South, East and West. To either side of each door stand eight wizards who say: • Az: The East door will lead you in!Bz: Either North or South is always safe.Cz: Verily Az and Bz are soothsayers.Dz: To the East or North if you want to survive.Hz: Salvation lies in the East and the South.Fz: Verily either Dz or Hz speaks true.Gz: If Cz says true, then so does Fz.Iz: If Gz and I, your humble servant, say true, then so too Az. • At least one door leads to the Inner Sanctum; the others to doom.Which door should our adventurer take? • (Wizards are always either soothsayers or compulsive knaves.)
A census taker and a pollster both arrive at 900 West St. at the same time each wanting to know the ages of the occupants. At first the cranky old man who answers the door is cooperative and gives his age and the fact that there are three other people living there, but then he gets annoyed with them and will only say that the product of these peoples ages is the same as the house number. Cajoled for more information, the old man says he will whisper the age of the person who is neither the oldest nor the youngest of the three to the census taker, who, hearing the number, shakes his head in despair. The old man then says he will whisper the sum of the ages of the oldest and one others to the pollster. The pollster looks despairingly at the census taker. The census taker shakes his head and the pollster’s eyes light up but then he mumbles no. The census taker, struggling, shakes his head again and the pollster says damn. The census taker shrugs his shoulders, but then the pollster says “Eureka! I got it.” Census taker: “Yeah, me too”. The census taker and the pollster
Lessons to be learnt from my sister likes … • You can’t learn without asking questions, thinking about the answers, hypothesizing and then testing with more questions. • Write down what you know … being lazy about this shows either arrogance or sloppiness of thought and you will miss things. • Looking at the wrong thing is often the cause of a lack of understanding. If you look at the right things, problems become simple. If you look at the wrong things, problems become complicated and difficult. • Communication confirms when two people are looking at the same things and vice versa. When communication doesn’t work there are differences in perceptions and understandings.
What’s the big idea? • Logic is good for you ! • It’s good for your braineven when it looks too hardand you want to run awayyou’ll be stronger for having stayed and faced the fear(but don’t get arrogant)
