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From: mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Re: Planned Parenthood posting / decadent music
Message-ID: <12211@styx.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Sep-85 20:27:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: styx.12211
Posted: Wed Sep 11 20:27:45 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Sep-85 05:42:19 EDT
References: <639@ttidcc.UUCP> <10929@rochester.UUCP>
Reply-To: mcb@lll-tis-b.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Distribution: net
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Lines: 16
Summary: Faulty rhetoric!

In article <11411@rochester.UUCP> ray@rochester.UUCP (Ray Frank) writes:
> HUH!  What makes you an authority on the effects of decadent music on youths.
> Please give examples of how it is not adversely affecting our youth.
> It is as though you were saying we don't need ratings on movies because
> movies don't affect anyone, except in the cases of failing vision.

This is a specious form of argumentation in which the debater asserts that 
his point of view is valid unless you can prove the opposite. It has
been used to "prove" the existence of everything from God to little
green men. In the absence of proof, logic dictates that we do not accept 
the proposition that "A causes B", merely because there is no proof
(or if it is impossible to prove or disprove) that A DOES NOT cause B.

Michael C. Berch
mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA
{akgua,allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,dual,ihnp4,sun}!idi!styx!mcb