[R-SIG-Mac] learning R

[Rolf Turner]

On 13/12/2010, at 10:05 PM, Jari Oksanen wrote:

> On 13/12/10 10:56 AM, "Philippe Grosjean" <phgrosjean at sciviews.org> wrote:
> 
>> Ah! That is interesting!
>> 
> ...
>> 
>> Otherwise, I am always amazed that people could use a metaphor like
>> here, a reference to the shape of a curve on a graph, without even
>> knowing what exactly are the X- and Y-axes. Shame on us!
> 
> Nothing to be ashamed of: We all know what is steep even if we cannot graph
> it. 
> 
> I just wonder why the other supposed "misuse" was completely ignored in this
> thread: there are many things in R that are "begging the question" but
> nobody dares to ask.


The phrase ``to beg the question'' means to indulge in circular reasoning;
to assume what is to be proven.  Unfortunately that meaning is becoming lost
in the wilderness of ignorance that surrounds us, and the phrase is almost
universally used to mean ``to raise the question'' or ``to evince the necessity
of an answer to the question''.  The language thus loses subtlety and nuance,
and Newspeak takes over and limits our ability to express our thoughts.  And
that is doubleplus ungood! :-)

	cheers,

		Rolf Turner