Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA07501 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 23 Jul 2001 12:37:42 +0100 From: Philip Jonkers <P.A.E.Jonkers@phys.rug.nl> X-Authentication-Warning: rugth1.phys.rug.nl: www-data set sender to jonkers@rugth1.phys.rug.nl using -f To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Logic Message-ID: <995888105.3b5c0bea00bb9@rugth1.phys.rug.nl> Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 13:35:06 +0200 (CEST) References: <Pine.WNT.4.33.0107201051360.51-100000@C157775-A.frndl1.wa.home.com> <995818721.3b5afce1c20c5@rugth1.phys.rug.nl> <004101c112f3$09e15600$44c2fac1@necdirect> In-Reply-To: <004101c112f3$09e15600$44c2fac1@necdirect> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit User-Agent: IMP/PHP IMAP webmail program 2.2.5 X-Originating-IP: 129.125.13.3 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> About logic, I would add that the 'logic' meme has mostly been enforced
> by
> cartesian western civilisation, but it is not absolutely world-wide. I
> was
> listening to the radio today, and a guy was reporting precisely about
> non-logical things he had witnessed in Africa, South America and Asia.
> For
> example, he told about a village in Africa where people had suffered
> from
> sickness, deaths, cattle diseases, famine, and so forth. They had come
> to
> the conclusion that someone in the village had used black magic to
> curse
> them. But nobody would dare to inquire or turn his neighbor in, for fear
> of
> retaliations. So they asked the 'feticheur'. He had all villagers gather
> in
> a big circle, and with his machette, he cut a chicken's head. The
> chicken
> managed to walk a few metres without it's head, and fell dead at the
> feet of
> an old man. The feticheur did it one more time, and the second
> beheaded
> chicken picked the same man again. He screamed and confessed : He had
> done
> the deed. All trouble in the village stopped. This is not logic. But
> it
> worked for those people, so the meme passed on that european logic
> should be
> resisted because it does not help solve problems.
Hi Pascal, superstitious memes still hold sway in primitive
communities. Superstition, such as religions, constantly
clash with logic. In a sense, logic and superstition are
mutual exclusive: it's either logic or superstition not
some superposistion. That's why creationists make such fools
out of them.
Au revoir,
Philip.
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