Thursday, 19 May 2011
Quick, consider the following: all polar bears are animals. Some animals are white.
Therefore, some polar bears are white. Is this conclusion logically implied or not?
There is a 75% chance you might endorse this conclusion despite it being logically false.
This instantly becomes apparent if you replace "white" in the foregoing with "brown".
You just witnessed a fundamental aspect of human cognition. Our logical reasoning is often compromised by irrelevant features such as the familiarity of white (but not brown) polar bears.
This frailty is routinely exploited by those who are trying to confuse the public about the well-established scientific fact that the Earth is warming due to human CO₂ emissions.
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