"It is impossible to prove a negative." At the time I just let it go by.
Yes, this is one of those preposterous assertions that are stated as fact in many contexts, including accusations of corruption in high office. It's a tiresome fallacy, sometimes used as shorthand for a different, but valid argument, and sometimes in the absence of a valid argument.
We behave as if it never crossed our mind that our plates might try to murder us; we take no precautions whatsoever; we walk through the kitchen without a care, and turn our backs on the plates without a second thought, and handle them with causual, indeed contemptuous, lack of concern.
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Date: 2009-02-26 10:09 pm (UTC)At the time I just let it go by.
Yes, this is one of those preposterous assertions that are stated as fact in many contexts, including accusations of corruption in high office. It's a tiresome fallacy, sometimes used as shorthand for a different, but valid argument, and sometimes in the absence of a valid argument.
We behave as if it never crossed our mind that our plates might try to murder us; we take no precautions whatsoever; we walk through the kitchen without a care, and turn our backs on the plates without a second thought, and handle them with causual, indeed contemptuous, lack of concern.
What a wonderful first sentence for a story!