Comments on: For Heaven’s Sake

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 05:52:06 +0000

Steve, it depends where people are coming from. Interstate 90 is not the right way to get to Mt. Rushmore if you are coming from Bridgeport, Nebraska. If you are talking to someone from there and care about whether he gets to Mt. Rushmore, you will let him use his own map.

Maybe Huckabee cares about me, but doesn’t know where I’m coming from. (In fact, given that my religion is different from his, I’m sure of at least the latter.)

By: ben

ben — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:08:43 +0000

The bit you’re missing is to attached % change in election likelihood to each response. Huckabee is aiming for a higher Muslim vote on answer one and more Christians on question 2 and women for question 3.

By: Liudvikas

Liudvikas — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:52:27 +0000

The simplest explanation is that he thinks that arguing about salvation is not necessarily the most effective way to express caring, and that politicians in particular have low standing to argue in this area, so he’s expressing respect for his listeners by sticking to subject areas where his opinion is more likely to be sought.
Now isn’t that both simpler and more charitable than your snide article?

By: Playground Logic « Our Dinner Table

Playground Logic « Our Dinner Table — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:34:54 +0000

[...] I’m enjoying reading Steven Landsburg’s book, The Big Questions. I like his use of playground logic. The following is from Chapter 20, The Economist on the [...]

By: Seth

Seth — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:20:52 +0000

Nice post. I wouldn’t be shocked if a politician didn’t mean a word of what he said. But, with these two examples I’m not sure I’d draw that conclusion.

There seems to be a clear distinction in his two quotes: free will. He may care about where you spend your infinite years ahead of you, but chooses not to argue because you’ve made your choice and it’s yours and through experience he has learned that arguing with you about it is not productive.

In the second example, he may view the eight-year-old as not having the free will to determine his or her own educational opportunities so he wants to improve the chances of getting a good education.

By: Destin

Destin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:52:51 +0000

I might be off the mark, but perhaps it’s not the best thing to take Huckabee literally here. I’m pretty sure Huckabee takes in John 14:6 as a part of his world view, though his comment may suggest otherwise.

The whole “You know what? If it works, I’m not going to argue with you.” is a typical Christian response to the forces of pluralization. Almost every true Christian, when backed into a corner, will admit to John 14:6. But until that happens, most of them are sick of arguing (or sick of thinking), and my fellow believers stick to that cowardly response.

By: dave

dave — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:55:07 +0000

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By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:51:09 +0000

I can’t find Heaven on my map, but I did find Hell (Michigan).

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:28:37 +0000

1. In boolean logic, a statement of the form “If X then Y” is always true if X is false.

2. Given that I am (hypothetically) a Christian who believes that the only way to get to Heaven is through Christ, and given that the Good Word is very easily available to all Americans, what is my best strategy:
(i) find people who actively disagree with me and hit them over the head with the New Testament, or
(ii) be Christ-like and engage in good deeds, with the not inconsiderable side-benefit of making my path seem attractive, and then welcoming and teaching anyone who expresses an interest?

3. Noah, there is a difference between Reason and extreme rationalism.

4. I am reminded of my favorite dialogue from Seinfeld.

By: EricK

EricK — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:10:36 +0000

If someone believes a proposition P, is it necessarily true that they believe all things which logically follow from P? In practice it is not. People’s world views are internally inconsistent. Some of us try to look for inconsistencies in our world view and eliminate them when we notice them; but most people do not even bother to look, and do not seem to particularly care if an incosistency is pointed out to them.

So a flowchart, like the one presented, might break down because in reality the arrows don’t exist. Each belief is in its own box, and they do not react with each other in any way.