Program logic bugs vs input/environmental errors

[Mike Parker via Digitalmars-d]

On 10/7/2014 7:52 PM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> On 10/07/2014 04:55 AM, Mike Parker wrote:
>> On 10/7/2014 5:19 PM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:

>
> In all my years of schooling, I only had one class that actually covered
> any of that stuff (as an actual stated topic anyway, rather than just as
> an implied part of another topic): It wasn't until college, *and* it was
> just an elective. Formal Logic, IIRC, or something along those lines,
> from the Philosophy dept (aiui, logic *is* considered a branch of
> philosophy, at least historically. Which does make sense IMO).

Yeah, my "Introduction to Logic" was branded PHIL 170 (I only know that 
because I just happened to find the syllabus in the front of my copy of 
Copi & Cohen -- the only book from college somehow managed to hold on to).

>>
>
> Personally, I think that not presenting it *as* logic may be somewhat of
> a mistake. Makes it sounds almost like some self-help or management
> seminar or something. Less respectable-sounding, and obscures the true
> core nature of the material: logic.
>
> But then again, MANY people seem to be repelled by any mention of logic,
> whereas I've aways been attracted to it, so maybe that's just my own bias.
>

Formal logic (which is what is typically taught in courses with "Logic" 
in the title) and critical thinking aren't quite the same thing, though. 
Logic as a means of probing arguments is just one tool in the critical 
thinker's toolbox. A lot of people can pick up how to draw a Venn 
diagram or call out a fallacy, but they fall short in their ability to 
actually understand where an opposing argument is coming from, or in 
expressing themselves in a way appropriate for their target audience, or 
in getting past their own biases. That takes a lot of hard work that 
isn't solved by mapping out truth tables.

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