(09-10-2015, 08:52 PM)Aaron Wrote:(09-10-2015, 08:44 PM) Oli! Wrote:For the record, I'd like to thank you for indulging my petty semantics thirst Warren denied me (That dirty Highlander scum). I feel more than sated now lol.(09-10-2015, 08:34 PM)Aaron Wrote: A fallacy is a failure in reasoning that renders an argument invalid..
So, to put it as simple as I can. In order for "everyone is too skilled so no one is skilled" to be a true factual statement, everyone on the planet would have to be an exact copy of one singular entity.
There's like how many extremely skilled artists in existence for example, yet how many actually get turned into legendary artists? Very few, because even though yeah there's plenty of skilled artists past and present, those that were made Legends had a particular skillset that set them above the rest.
So if everyone is special no one is special is true, what makes Leonardo da Vinci more skilled than any other artist on this forum? What makes Drake get crowds bumping that another equally apparently skilled rapper can't do?
This is also irrelevant because the statement is one of logic, not of fact.
Logical statements do not have to be true when compared to a real-world situation, they merely have to be true within the confines of their stated parameter. "If everyone is <X>, no one is" does not claim to be true in a real-world situation, hence the 'if' at the beginning of the statement.
It is not saying that "this is how things work in the real world at this given time." It is saying, "assuming that everyone in the world were to be equally <Comparison-Based Parameter>, regardless of whether or not it is true, it would logically follow that <Comparison-Based Parameter> would cease to exist due to a lack of a comparison."
And ah, I see what you're getting at. The initial reason I pointed it out is because generally when I see people say that phrase it always sounds like a cop out so everyone can have people play things beneath the level the phrase user is saying. And seeing as how majority of the people on this forum love putting some skeletal aspect of realism in this game you can see how I came to that observation.
In any case I think a more appropriate term when talking confines of parameters would be "Special always to some, never special to all." Because rpers generally always want to be more more skilled than others for the most part or stand out in something. It'll impress some but it'll never impress everyone.
Which again I guess this just reverts back to your earlier statement of it being all relative. Seems I was so into this discussion I got sidetracked myself trying to keep it going lol
The thing is, personal takes on what people use an argument for doesn't make it a fallacy. It's still a Logically True Statement, and one that happens to relate to some capacity to what someone is saying. The post where I quoted the Heroes All fallacy is perhaps the most concise highlighting of why it isn't a fallacy.
Logical Statements are like tools. Although it may be used in a certain way, when examined properly, it will remain the same, as it is self-contained and still retains its stated meaning. You can use a hammer to bash someone's head in just as readily as you can use it to build a house, but that doesn't change the fact that it is, objectively, a hammer. You can describe it as a murder weapon or a construction tool, but when pressed for details, it will be a Hammer. Similarly, you can use a logical statement for one side of an argument, or another side of an argument, but when examined, the meaning and truth of it will be intact.
And yes, this does bring us back around into Subjectivity.
(I also happen to play some dirty highlander scum.)
