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To: r9etb
You said: "you can't prove a negative."

If you are either too stupid or too ignorant of logic to understand why this is true then you have violated the three fallacy rule in a single sentence.

For the final time - you cannot prove true that which does not exist and for which there is no evidence.

You can't Prove a Negative.

846 posted on 12/04/2005 8:11:16 PM PST by LogicWings
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To: LogicWings
If you are either too stupid or too ignorant of logic to understand why this is true then you have violated the three fallacy rule in a single sentence.

Sigh. Must you resort to this crap yet again?

For the final time - you cannot prove true that which does not exist

No problem here. This can be demonstrated, by (for example) showing that the assumption of truth leads to a contradiction. Logic says that by demonstrating a contradiction, it's possible to prove certain statements false. (And thereby, incidentally, proving a negative: X does not exist.)

and for which there is no evidence.

This, however, has no place in the discussion. A lack of evidence is not the same thing as "non-existence." Non-existence implies lack of evidence, of course, but the converse is not true. (I'm sure you remember this from your logic classes.)

You can't Prove a Negative.

Symbolically, then, in the form you've provided above, you're saying that "Proofs of Negatives" do not exist. However, "you can't prove a negative" has the unfortunate property that it is a negative.

If you can prove then statement, then it is a false statement -- a classic dilemma.

And of course, if you cannot prove this statement, then it is without meaning: a self-negating statement.

So please curb your unpleasant tendency to toss insults instead of logic, and PROVE YOUR STATEMENT.

849 posted on 12/05/2005 7:03:52 AM PST by r9etb
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