On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 22:21:49 GMT, "Pif" <pifethercule@muie4u.com>
wrote:
"LANkrypt0" <admin@lankrypt0.com> wrote in message
news:Pine.BSI.4.53.0307161007470.23263@shell.monmouth.com...
Pif vandalized the alt.atheism bathroom wall with:
P> Since the Bushists seem to think the number of words in a statment is
P> related to the validity of said statment, let's apply the same logic to
P> another case. "God exists" = 2 words "God does not exist" = 4 words.
P> Apparently, the second statment is twice as valid as the first since it
P> contains twice the number of words as the first statement.
P>
<theist>God does not, not exist.</theist>
I'm glad you brought this up. If we are to follow the logical chain of
thought and apply an algebraic solution to the problem, we have a double
negative which much like -(-4) = 4 cancels out and "God does not,not exist"
becomes "God exists" which is a much weaker statment than "God does not
exist" according to the definition of cardinality found in set theory.
For several hundred years grown ups have been telling small
children this - and they in their turn have been faced with a new
crop of kiddies who treat 'not' additively, rather than
algebraically.
Time to call it a day. ISTR that their is a language in which
'not' does behave according to the intuition of young children,
so lets let "God does not,not exist" be like "((-)-)4 = -8".
So:
<Additive not>God does not, not, not, not exist</Additive not>
-
Martin Thomas
mart666t@netscape.NO.HAWKERS.net
.
