Astral Codex Ten Podcast

[Classic] Proving Too Much


Listen Later

https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/13/proving-too-much/

The fallacy of Proving Too Much is when you challenge an argument because, in addition to proving its intended conclusion, it also proves obviously false conclusions. For example, if someone says “You can’t be an atheist, because it’s impossible to disprove the existence of God”, you can answer “That argument proves too much. If we accept it, we must also accept that you can’t disbelieve in Bigfoot, since it’s impossible to disprove his existence as well.”

I love this tactic so much. I only learned it had a name quite recently, but it’s been my default style of argument for years. It neatly cuts through complicated issues that might otherwise be totally irresolvable.

Because here is a fundamental principle of the Dark Arts – you don’t need an argument that can’t be disproven, only an argument that can’t be disproven in the amount of time your opponent has available.

In a presidential debate, where your opponent has three minutes, that means all you need to do is come up with an argument whose disproof is inferentially distant enough from your audience that it will take your opponent more than three minutes to explain it, or your audience more than three minutes’ worth of mental effort to understand the explanation.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Astral Codex Ten PodcastBy Jeremiah

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

123 ratings


More shows like Astral Codex Ten Podcast

View all
EconTalk by Russ Roberts

EconTalk

4,226 Listeners

Robert Wright's Nonzero by Nonzero

Robert Wright's Nonzero

584 Listeners

Conversations with Tyler by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Conversations with Tyler

2,395 Listeners

Odd Lots by Bloomberg

Odd Lots

1,789 Listeners

Future of Life Institute Podcast by Future of Life Institute

Future of Life Institute Podcast

105 Listeners

ChinaTalk by Jordan Schneider

ChinaTalk

269 Listeners

ManifoldOne by Steve Hsu

ManifoldOne

89 Listeners

Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST) by Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

88 Listeners

Dwarkesh Podcast by Dwarkesh Patel

Dwarkesh Podcast

417 Listeners

Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg by Spencer Greenberg

Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

128 Listeners

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist by Joe Lonsdale

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

164 Listeners

"Moment of Zen" by Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez

"Moment of Zen"

91 Listeners

Latent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast by swyx + Alessio

Latent Space: The AI Engineer Podcast

75 Listeners

"Econ 102" with Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg by Turpentine

"Econ 102" with Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg

146 Listeners

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11) by Patrick McKenzie

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

123 Listeners