Category: Everything you think you know is wrong

Everything you think you know is wrong, part VI – the grand final »

Everything you think you know is wrong…I know it sounds harsh – condescending even, well it’s not. At least it’s not meant to be. You see, I have no problem admitting that everything that I think I know is wrong too. It’s not a question of right and wrong, it’s not a question of “truth” [...]

Everything you think you know is wrong, part V »

There is no such thing as common sense
There is nothing common about sense, and sense is not all that common.
In fact, one could argue that “common sense” is to reasoning, what myth is to fact. Let me elaborate.
People tend to believe the strangest things to be facts, even if the facts are simply wrong. [...]

Everything you think you know is wrong, part IV »

Norm and Nature
It is not unusual to hear people make claims such as “it is not natural” or “it is not normal”. Often, they say this with reference to what we may call “alternative lifestyle” behaviors such as say, homosexuality or perhaps vegetarianism. Usually they take issue with these lifestyles. And so, with their sense [...]

Everything you think you know is wrong, part III »

The problem with information
Your information about the world around us comes in unlimited supply from a great variety of sources. To start with, it might be a good idea to separate between processed and unprocessed information. Any raw data, such as actual observations, is immediately processed by the person observing the event. Here’s [...]

Everything you think you know is wrong, part II »

Theories are theories – no more, no less.
Many of the things we hold to be true, and “think” we know are based on either assumptions or at best theories of some sort (which most of the time also rest on the foundation of some assumptions). Theories have the benefit of having to suffer the [...]

Everything you think you know is wrong, part I »

Correlation, Causality and What are you measuring?
Basic understanding of life, universe and the whole mess, involves understanding the difference between things that correlate and things that can demonstrate causality. This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. In arguments, I tend to focus on the logic presented to me, more than the actual [...]