A striking thing about language is that is composable in certain ways. I can make an argument in which each step of the argument is self-evident, yet the conclusion is a surprising (but true) consequence of the premises.
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It's also possible to make visual arguments of various kinds. For instance, the shortest route on a map. Locally, each step is obvious; collectively, you may be able to infer non-obvious things like fastest driving distance.pic.twitter.com/s2pBncQhrj
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You can think of Escher's Ascending and Descending as a visual argument. Locally, each piece makes sense as a simple, self-evident step. But globally it shows something impossible, a staircase which is cyclic, but which it's possible to ascend forever.pic.twitter.com/OXt2WAuxjM
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In essence, it's a visual argument, each step of which seems correct, and yet it arrives at an impossible conclusion.
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I wonder: is there a linguistic equivalent to Ascending and Descending? An argument of which each step is true, yet the conclusion does not follow from the premise?
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Replying to @michael_nielsen
I once tried to look up any Latin word from field of rhetoric re: "good conclusion from wrong arguments", but couldn't find one (asked ppl too) -- so I named it "the Bill Maher effect". Sorry Bill.
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