Tony Blair
Has everyone had time to read the new RAW Semantics post I mentioned yesterday, "Meta-/Milton & RAW"? It is is difficult to summarize, but Brian takes on RAW's analysis of language, and the two main classes of statements, statements that can be verified and statements that cannot.
Along the way, Brian discusses how Robert Anton Wilson regarded New Age philosophy -- “Ten percent good ideas, ninety percent bullshit” -- and discusses the 10 percent RAW regarded as useful.
And he goes back to Tony Blair's arguments for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and shows how absurd they were when subjected to linguistic analysis. An example:
5. Simple Distortion
“Only Saddam can avert this war…”
A basic cause-effect distortion. A war is averted by the aggressors deciding not to attack. Such a decision can be caused by many things – eg a preference for avoiding mass slaughter.
I'm not doing it justice, but Brian's post is interesting, take some moments and check it out.
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