forceOfHabit
Aug 22, 2017 · 1 min read

The lack of common sense, or even basic logic, in this article is pervasive. Let’s just take a single example:

“After three or four failed relationships, continuing to date is the definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting a different result.”

Logical error: “continuing to date” equals “doing the same thing”.

Example: A mathematician tries to prove some theorem or other. He tries an idea. It doesn’t work. He tries another. It fails. He tries again. No luck. He works on something else for awhile until he thinks up another new approach. He is “continuing to [try to prove his theorem]”. He is not “doing the same thing”. Often, after many failures, he succeeds; sometimes, he never does. Is he insane?

Error of common sense: Three or four failures mean succes is impossible.

Example: I learned to juggle 3 balls for 5 minutes. I failed many more than 3 or 4 times. I kept trying to do the same thing and I slowly got better at doing it. Was I insane? Can only lunatics or prodigies juggle?

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    forceOfHabit

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