Deconstructing tautologies
My Grandma Fannie often reminded me that if something does not seem to make sense it probably does not make sense.
Yesterday there was a report of a 26-year-old young man opening fire on a group of people at a church in a 700-person community in Texas. 27 people are confirmed dead and many more are being treated. So far we know that the young man had a history of domestic violence and received a bad conduct discharge from the United States Air Force. We do not know if he was required or advised to enter treatment for his violence.
The man in Texas who pulled out his own gun and started shooting may have been responsible for preventing even more deaths.
The President of the United States has reminded everyone that this incident “is not a gun’s issues” but a mental health one…”.
The President is in Japan where he is, according to news reports, discussing a wide range of issues including the possibility of Japan purchasing more military weapons. He seems to be suggesting that part of the response to the military built up and threats of North Korea is for both South Korea and Japan to increase their military forces. President Trump joins many other people who believe the response to a bully should be to become a more powerful bully.
Many in the United States and elsewhere will echo the messages of President Trump:
On the surface, all of these statements seem true. Guns do not, by themselves, decide to go out and kill people. Bullies do not respond to perceived weakness. The response of the person with a gun who fired on the Texas gunman did undoubtedly stop more violence.
Tautologies are statements which are true but which do not add to our fund of knowledge. For example, if I say, “The red wagon is red.” I have made a true statement which says nothing new. Red wagons are by definition red.
All three of the examples are, in my opinion, tautologies. However, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story is:
One may be hard pressed to immediately identify a tautology as a tautology. Yet, one will often “know” when there is something illogical about what is being said. At such times, one may want to remember the wisdom of Grandma Fannie, “If it does not seem to make sense it probably does not make sense.”
Written November 6, 2017
My Grandma Fannie often reminded me that if something does not seem to make sense it probably does not make sense.
Yesterday there was a report of a 26-year-old young man opening fire on a group of people at a church in a 700-person community in Texas. 27 people are confirmed dead and many more are being treated. So far we know that the young man had a history of domestic violence and received a bad conduct discharge from the United States Air Force. We do not know if he was required or advised to enter treatment for his violence.
The man in Texas who pulled out his own gun and started shooting may have been responsible for preventing even more deaths.
The President of the United States has reminded everyone that this incident “is not a gun’s issues” but a mental health one…”.
The President is in Japan where he is, according to news reports, discussing a wide range of issues including the possibility of Japan purchasing more military weapons. He seems to be suggesting that part of the response to the military built up and threats of North Korea is for both South Korea and Japan to increase their military forces. President Trump joins many other people who believe the response to a bully should be to become a more powerful bully.
Many in the United States and elsewhere will echo the messages of President Trump:
- Guns do not kill, people do.
- You cannot show weakness to a bully.
- Arming more people will prevent even greater violence.
On the surface, all of these statements seem true. Guns do not, by themselves, decide to go out and kill people. Bullies do not respond to perceived weakness. The response of the person with a gun who fired on the Texas gunman did undoubtedly stop more violence.
Tautologies are statements which are true but which do not add to our fund of knowledge. For example, if I say, “The red wagon is red.” I have made a true statement which says nothing new. Red wagons are by definition red.
All three of the examples are, in my opinion, tautologies. However, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story is:
- The more available we make guns the more likely they are to be used to kill or injure others.
- The more communities and as a nation promote lethal violence as a primary way of dealing with dangerous situations and people they do not like; the more likely others will come to adopt violent behavior.
- The more we continue to punish and incarcerate those with mental illness the more likely we are to have increased acts of violence or other criminal activity.
- While we cannot stop all violence (regardless of the “reason”) we can model non-lethal ways of stopping those who are violent.
- Standing up to bullies with non-bullying options can be more effective ways to stop the bully.
- Systems are systems are systems. Often the bully is responding to being or feeling bullied. The bullied then responds to the bully not by attempting to make amends for past behavior but by bullying the bully. Generally bully behavior does not originate with the current bully.
One may be hard pressed to immediately identify a tautology as a tautology. Yet, one will often “know” when there is something illogical about what is being said. At such times, one may want to remember the wisdom of Grandma Fannie, “If it does not seem to make sense it probably does not make sense.”
Written November 6, 2017
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