tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post5223016153614798654..comments2023-07-02T20:28:31.189+01:00Comments on who shall remain antonymous: The Law of the Ridiculous Reverselynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-32663118168853042082021-01-19T10:58:43.181+00:002021-01-19T10:58:43.181+00:00I agree. Boris is right.I agree. Boris is right.Duncan Macphersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15853396856016522609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-64429538995358916972020-10-31T06:14:05.003+00:002020-10-31T06:14:05.003+00:00I hate to concede it, but I think Boris is absolut...I hate to concede it, but I think Boris is absolutely right. I think the ridiculous reverse law applies more to unnecessary adjectives like 'we will develop effective strategies to...' where it's hardly likely you'd develop ineffective strategies. Otherwise the same argument could be used to debunk ANY slogan for change, like 'Black lives matter'.Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03609069275956361633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-89599912244710549382015-11-10T21:54:52.205+00:002015-11-10T21:54:52.205+00:00I think this is an oversimplification. Such claims...I think this is an oversimplification. Such claims can be made to change the status quo, where a perfectly viable alternative is to do nothing. So, to take one of the listed examples, "A fairer society that rewards people who work hard", a reasonable alternative is "Our society is plenty fair and people are already plenty rewarded for working hard".<br /><br />Or let's take one of today's campaign slogans, "make America great again." The alternative is not to "make America horrible" or something. It's to challenge the premise that America is not great now.Boris Zakharinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560756640621720539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-72237972465466126622015-11-10T21:54:48.284+00:002015-11-10T21:54:48.284+00:00I think this is an oversimplification. Such claims...I think this is an oversimplification. Such claims can be made to change the status quo, where a perfectly viable alternative is to do nothing. So, to take one of the listed examples, "A fairer society that rewards people who work hard", a reasonable alternative is "Our society is plenty fair and people are already plenty rewarded for working hard".<br /><br />Or let's take one of today's campaign slogans, "make America great again." The alternative is not to "make America horrible" or something. It's to challenge the premise that America is not great now.Boris Zakharinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560756640621720539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-65436210297633442015-10-30T14:26:58.481+00:002015-10-30T14:26:58.481+00:00My favourite type of text illustrating this law is...My favourite type of text illustrating this law is school mission statements, eg.<br />"We aim to foster excellence in all areas of learning, to enable pupils to achieve highly, to develop their individual character skills and therefore equip them to succeed in this competitive world." @lexicoj0hn<br /><br />--><br /><br />"We aim to foster mediocrity in all areas of learning, to discourage pupils from achieving highly, to neglect their individual character skills and therefore make them ill-equipped to succeed in this competitive world."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04353958023932492822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-60614639305063313842015-10-29T16:39:26.554+00:002015-10-29T16:39:26.554+00:00This comes just as I'm having a Facebook argum...This comes just as I'm having a Facebook argument with a philosopher about whether there are knowable facts.<br /><br />Hoggart's talking about politicians and they rarely (these days) utter great truths. I'm trying to think of any great truths I may know. Not sure what qualifies a truth as being 'great'. lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4155160141185563954.post-57517885673451396552015-10-29T16:14:13.451+00:002015-10-29T16:14:13.451+00:00The Republican electorate in the US this year seem...The Republican electorate in the US this year seems to have rewarded candidates that make substantive claims. The Donald, for example, has had great poll numbers even after saying things like, "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." Regardless of whether you agree, these are substantive claims, and their opposite isn't obviously false. And his reward has been good polling numbers.<br /><br />Compare with a quote (pulled at random from BrainyQuote) by Jeb!: "Life teaches you that you need to make decisions in the right time - not too early, not too late." Its opposite -- "You should make decisions at the wrong time" -- is obviously ridiculous. And his poll numbers are dismal.<br /><br />I'm curious if you have any thoughts about the relationship of Hoggart's Law to Niels Bohr's famous quote: "The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one great truth may very well be another great truth."<br /><br />Also, is Bohr's quote a great truth?...Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16358942133639236705noreply@blogger.com