Evening, evening, good evening
I am Kris from P. P. C. C.
Today we are making passion fruit jello
First, cut the passion fruit in half and spoon the pulp into a bowl
Put a few gelatin sheets into cold water in advance
Prepare a pot of water, put it on low heat for about 30 seconds
then add in some caster sugar and passion fruit pulp and stir until well combined
The levels of sweetness can be adjusted according to your taste
Now, add the softened gelatin into the pot and stir until it melts completely
You can decide how soft you want it to be
“Do NOT play with food.”
After it’s cooled, put it into the fridge for about two hours
While waiting, let’s talk about reductio ad absurdum
reductio ad absurdum is a common form of argument
which seeks to demonstrate that a statement is true
by showing that a false, untenable, or absurd result follows from its denial or vise versa
In fact, we use reductio ad absurdum a lot in our daily life, for example
John went out without finishing his homework
His mom asked him why
John said, “Because Mary asked me to.”
So his mom said angrily, “If Mary told you to jump off the cliff, would you?”
Here’s another example
Group A thinks that “Society should embrace variety, so we should support same-sex marriage.”
Group B argued, “If one can marry whoever he/she desires, then being married to animals should be allowed!”
The two example both use reductio ad absurdum
Opposers argued by pointed out that if their opponents’ statements were true,
a false, untenable, or absurd result will follow from its denial
But as you can see
some results of reductio ad absurdum can be unreasonable
A false usage of reductio ad absurdum can be a barrier of communication
not to mention you are trying to convince someone who holds a different opinion
Abuse reductio ad absurdum would make you look foolish
So, how can we use reductio ad absurdum properly?
Let’s welcome our guest
who is the king of foolishness
to explain it for us
It’d probably take more than two hours for Mr. Fung to finish his talk
Let me simply demonstrate the three crucial points of reductio ad absurdum
The right way to use reductio ad absurdum
First, aim your target!
Freedom of speech gives us a greater chance to seek the truth.
We already have freedom of speech, are you saying we already found the truth?
That’s why I said, “A greater chance...”
In this case, what A said is “gives us a greater chance” to seek the truth
and not “we will definitely” find the truth, so B's argument missed the target
When using reductio ad absurdum, if you misunderstand one’s proposition
your argument will miss the target without a doubt
Second, formulate a reliable theory
People in a democratic society hold freedom of speech.
Do you mean that if a dictator allows free speech, it’ll turn his country democratic?
What the...
In this example, A’s statement of “People in a democratic society hold freedom of speech.”
doesn’t stand for “once freedom of speech is given, a country turns democratic”
So we can see that the logic of B’s argument doesn’t really make sense
When you understand one’s proposition, your argument must go by logic as well
or the discussion would have difficulties continuing
Third, you must come up with an absurd or fact-rejecting result
I fully support freedom of speech.
Really huh? Doesn’t your statement approve of swearing?
And the problem is…?
In this case, B thinks that swearing is serious, but A doesn’t
Since it’s a use of reductio ad absurdum, the result has to be absurd
However, if you point out a result of one’s statement which he/she doesn’t think it’s absurd
Don’t you think there is no use arguing anymore?
Reductio ad absurdum is a way of communication, it may be helpful or it may go wrong
But if we follow the three crucial points, communication may run more smoothly
So, let’s conclude the three points to keep in mind when using reductio ad absurdum
Fully understand the opposer’s proposition without misinterpretations so that you can “aim at the target”
Before you come up with a result, “formulate a reliable theory” with a right, reasonable logic path, or the opposer would question your theory.
Watch out for different opinions on the result you give, you may think it is absurd while one may not.
So, “the result which you come up with has to be absurd and doesn’t reflect the fact.”
With the three steps of reductio ad absurdum, no matter which step goes wrong,
They will all point out the crux of the argument from both sides
Through inspecting each step of using reductio ad absurdum
we can find the misunderstandings of a communication
and we can reflect on ourselves to see what needs to be improved
homework
Can you find an example of reductio ad absurdum in your daily life?
Is it reasonable? Why/Why not?
Many people still use reductio ad absurdum as a way of insulting people
but if we use reductio ad absurdum properly, it’s really a good way to improve communication and discussions
Okay, the passion fruit jello is now ready to serve
Doesn’t it have to be in the fridge for two hours?
Please don’t pick on those tiny details.
You can have it all, just let me talk.
Oh.
Okay, there’s still something I want to add...
If you want to hear what Mr. Fung have to said, check out facebook.com/taiwanbarstudio