Can those outside of science credibly speak about science?

Answer: Yes.You don't have to know all the details to pick up the gist.

One just needs the ability to reason and an overall grasp of whatever the theory is (like an understanding of natural selection in evolution). I read this book on evolution by Ernest Mayr and there were certain genetic concepts I didn't grasp, but what I did grasp, I think, is what was important to understand and what it was that was not essential to grasp. Science is important in a practical sense. If advances in medicine can make me live longer and healthier, then I think that's mighty important. Theoretical science about big issues like evolution or astronomical matters is interesting, but I don't know that it has much effect on the viewpoint of masses of people. One movie might have more effect. I haven't studied science because it's not my field, not the thing I do well (to the extent that I do anything well). Some people are better in other fields. I can think but I can't calculate.This message has been edited by robinrohan, 03-02-2006 09:14 AM

I don't think the study of FORMAL logic is necessary. Many can recognize a contradiction or a fallacy like "begging the question" when they see it, even if they don't have a label for the fallacy. Logic is a natural faculty. Yes, of course. The biggest problem I have is with unfamiliar technical terms. In fact, I become annoyed at times with what looks to me like unnecessary and pretentious jargon. My view is that if you understand something, you should be able to write it in clear and plain language, no matter how subtle or complicated the idea.However, I realize that "jargon" is relative. What's jargon to me might be everyday vocabulary for somebody else. They don't even think of it as jargon.

Because a faculty is natural, it does not follow that we will do it perfectly. Children engage in logical progressions of thought continually.Can I get away with playing hookie? Let us consider the various possibilities of getting caught. My mother is always gone from house at this time of day. Therefore, I infer that she will be gone today as well. . . . etc.

Induction is a form of logic.

Deduction:My Mommy said that we will live forever.My dead dog is a "we."Therefore my dead dog is not really dead.

What does this mean?

To show that logic is a natural faculty.

"Logic" is simply the process of thinking, "If this, then this." We do it all our lives, though in the form of enthymemes.

An informal syllogism. We leave one of the premises out--too obvious to mention."Since Jane is on the Dean's List, she must be a good student."That's an enthymeme. That's the sort of sentence we write (and think). The premise "All students who are on the Dean's List are good students" has been omitted.It's still deduction though. It's a natural faculty. Sometimes, of course, our premises are inaccurate. Or we might make the error of the undistributed middle term. Still, though, we are thinking within the realm of logic.

I got this sketch of myself when I was younger I could put up.

The middle term is the term that gets repeated in both premises but does not appear in the conclusion. It has to be distributed over the whole group.All fathers are males.
G. W. Bush is a male.
Therefore, G. W. Bush is a father."male" is the middle term. This syllogism is fallacious. The middle term has to be by the "All."English Composition 101. My poor community college students, who barely made it through high school, who have never taken a course in logic, spot this error immediately--which just goes to show that logic is a natural faculty.

I prefer dishonest portraits. Anyway, that guy looks like a nihilist, so it fits me to a tee.

Of course we can have an emotional bias that keeps us from thinking at all about a given topic. We sink the logic down underneath our consciousness.I used to know this guy a long time ago who lived unconsciously, it seemed to me, according to the following idea:All great artists have a lot of women.
I have a lot of women.
Therefore, I am a great artist.He did have a lot of women, but great artist he was not. He didn't get his middle term distributed.

If you are saying that grammar is fundamentally logical, I agree. But perhaps the logic came before the grammar.