psia-antique

Common Fallacies of logic and rhetoric: • Ad hominem - attacking the arguer and not the argument. • Argument from "authority". Argument from adverse consequences (putting pressure on the decision maker by pointing out dire consequences of an "unfavorable" decision). • Appeal to ignorance (absence of evidence is not evidence of absence). • Special pleading (typically referring to god's will). • Begging the question (assuming an answer in the way the question is phrased). • Observational selection (counting the hits and forgetting the misses). • Statistics of small numbers (such as drawing conclusions from inadequate sample sizes). • Misunderstanding the nature of statistics • Inconsistency Non sequitur - "it does not follow" - the logic falls down. • Post hoc, ergo propter hoc - "it happened after so it was caused by" - confusion of cause and effect. • Meaningless question ("what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?). • Excluded middle -considering only the two extremes in a range of possibilities (making the "other side" look worse than it really is). • Short-term v. long-term - a subset of excluded middle ("why pursue fundamental science when we have so huge a budget deficit?"). • Slippery slope - a subset of excluded middle -unwarranted extrapolation of the effects (give an inch and they will take a mile). • Confusion of correlation and causation. • Straw man - caricaturing (or stereotyping) a position to make it easier to attack. • Suppressed evidence or half-truths. • Weasel words - for example, use of euphemisms for war such as "police action" to get around limitations on Presidential powers. "An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public" .

John Watkins is a very honorable man and I am very proud to call him my friend!

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Who’s on First? I had a great idea. It was an idea that would change the way the accounting and economics professions would look at the value and accounting of tangible assets. I knew I would be published in Harvard Review and in the Journal of Economics. Boy, was I excited. I went to the internet to do a search. I was very surprised to find that a “kid” had the idea before me. I never met this “kid”, but if I do, he is going to get it for stealing MY idea. His name? – Aristotle. How many great ideas, turn out to be old ideas others have long had? JABO is prime breeding ground for ideas. People are attracted to the factory and they come from all walks of life. Glass makers, marble makers, collectors and people who are just fascinated at seeing a marble factory in operation are all welcomed at JABO. But, it did not begin here. As a young man, just starting out in the glass industry, David’s charisma, intelligence, and hard work were his ticket into the inner circle of marble makers in West Virginia. Don Michels, Roger Howdyshell, and Louis Moore shared their thoughts and ideas on a regular basis. This, along with his day-to-day efforts working with marbles, formed his early career. David likes talking about marbles and ideas on how to make better marbles. He listens carefully to everyone who says anything. And he thinks long and hard about how to make something work. The big chunks of aventurine in his kitchen window attest to that. They are his talisman of the happy memory of his first experiment with mica and aventurine in 1997 when he made the DT Special. For ten years, he saw these daily and they reminded him of 1997 and were a cue to keep thinking about how to do it better. The pieces all came together on November 27, 2007 when he got his first opaque oxblood and March of 2008 when he ran the Sammy’s Sparkle Run which were the beginning of his great aventurines, micas and oxbloods of 2008. When Patrons of the Arts see their marbles come down the rollers and fall into the buckets at the end, ideas abound. How to get more colors; how to get prettier colors; how to add aventurine; how to create better patterns; all of these thoughts come into play. If an idea is told to David, his response will always be, “Well, let’s try it and see if it works. It will be interesting to see how to do that. I can learn something here.” He already knows the outcome but two things are happening here. First of all, in David’s JABO Renaissance, we equated David to an Art teacher who encourages his students to try new things. Secondly, every once in a while the idea will move his thought process ahead. With his experience and a few changes, he will make the experiment work or he will see where he needs to adjust his idea. From complexity comes simplicity, David became an instant overnight success during the Tribute Last Dance Run and then again in the Tribute to Friendship Run. After thirty years, he figured out how to make a more complex pattern that goes all over the marble. It worked! Just look at the Last Dance or Tribute to Friendship marbles. I called David after the Last Dance Run to discuss with him my idea for preventing the pressure created when adding another color to the surface of the marbles. His response was typical. “We’ve been closed for three days. Don’t you think Richard and I have already done that?”

I agree with you and I think that I said that same sort of thing in post #42. I think you will enjoy this rhetorical question. Is a see through white wash white? I think the answer is kind of, sort of yes

Thanks Bo for making the point about real red and telling us that none of the oxblood colors are the same from your research. That is exactly the point. The word oxblood as used in marbles does not define one particular color, but a range of colors and subjective at best. Hence I said in an earlier post ..."What is your intellectual response to my proposition that oxblood as a color is about defining shade, tone, hue, and finding its place on the color wheel where no manufacuring critea is needed, wanted or allowed? It is either a color or it is not? You see, I think your premise that chemists study it in a scientific way and artists use and love it agrees with what I am saying. " Stephanie points out that not all ox is opaque and I agree with that. Artists are entitled to call their color of red any name they choose.

thank you

Joseph can read and is very perceptive.

Expand the definition? By describing it as a color and not a method of manufacture? Do you disagree that there is more than one way to make a color? I have made it very clear that we need to go slowly and that there are more questions than answers. I have made it clear that every resource available to do the research should be used. Since your understanding is expanding,like that of others, why is the definition section of the study hall closed?

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I agree that not all oxblood is opaque and so do Castle and Peterson. I believe that at least Pelt,Vitro, and JABO have oxblood that is not opaque. I will bring some of each to the Vienna show if anyone is interested. We are not haggling. You may if you wish. I was writing to Felicia and discussing with her and then both of you. Much of what you have posted is just quotes from your definition section in the study Hall. There can be no discussion there as it is now closed and I notice some changes made and other factual threads seem to have been dropped. What is your intellectual response to my proposition that oxblood as a color is about defining shade, tone, hue, and finding its place on the color wheel where no manufacuring critea is needed, wanted or allowed? It is either a color or it is not? You see, I think your premise that chemists study it in a scientific way and artists use and love it agrees with what I am saying. So where is the haggling? I think I have answered your questions. Who said "oxblood as a color WILL BE dark red?" I am just quoting your post and words and am curiuos since it is not something I have seen before.

Bibliographic echo also blurs the terms and will make meanings not only meaningless,but untrue. "Oxblood as a color will be dark red." Who said "oxblood will be dark red?" Was that someone today or the folks of yore. You are correct that the people of yore had intimate knowledge of their animals and processing them as their food source. Blood when first "let" is bright red. It darkens as it is exposed to the air. It continues to darken until it forms a scab and that is about as dark as it will get. Which shade of blood in the darkening stage is the correct color? I think that is very open to discussion. Who says that "oxblood" as a color has to be copper based? As I understand it, red can be made in many different ways, yet the color is still red. Yes, I know Brian said it and in context is true, but the context is changing all the time. When you name a color, I don't think I have ever heard any intelligent person say, it can only be that color if it is made a certain way. Naming a color is defining its shade, tone, hue. It is defining a place on the color wheel. It is not a description of the process of manufacture.

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Not only has he written and studied cats' eyes extensively, he has very interesting sets of beautiful cats that he sometimes sells as "learing pieces.?

Then came the moment of truth. I had poured one of the bags into my hand and was admiring my latest treasure, when I found myself looking at one of the marbles and muttering, “Why, that’s almost pretty enough to be a JABO.” Whoa, what was I saying?! For those who missed this sentence in the article it's the key sentence! William Bavin of the House of Marbles was recently quoted (after seeing the Tribute to Friendship Run).."some of the prettiest machine marbles I've seen."

Two knees are better than one!

Children in a Candy Store Of the many personality types seen in children in a candy store, two stand out. One type of child will share all of his candies with anyone, even to the point of not having any for himself. David McCullough reminds me of this personality type. Go to his factory and you will come away with a pocketful of marbles. Many people have received his small sample boxes of marbles from the latest runs. In fact, when I was in Sistersville and I ran out of marbles that I give away to children, young and old, David gave me a whole box of free marbles to pass out to the crowds during the local marble festival. Then there are the children that will take all of your candy and eat all of their own, too. This type of child will steal or destroy or bully others until the candy is all gone. You will see this type of child, now taller but not grown-up, in the marble world. I’m sure you have run into this type of person at any one the shows or on any of the chat boards. You will recognize this person because he is trying to sell you a polished marble, or he will make a replica of an antique marble and not sign it, or tell untruths on the chat boards knowing full well that they are lies but who can prove it? Unfortunately, you will also find this type of person at the marble factory. In one of the runs, an altercation took place because one of the Patrons had filled his pockets, socks and mouth with all the marbles he could steal as they cooled. In another run, after David gave a group some glass from his own stockpile was accused of stealing their glass. The same group, during another run, told the world on a chat board that they used glass that even David McCullough could not get. In fact, David sent them to his own glass broker who was told to take David’s private stockpile. The biggest problem that these personality types create is when they think that they are better marble makers than a man who has worked in the business for thirty years. These people have all sorts of ideas about how to make marbles and it never once crosses their mind to consult with David about the expected outcome which they have no idea how to attain. When David sets the tank in the back, a beautiful run can be expected by the Patrons. The workers at the factory such as Johnny Carr will guard the back of the tank like a bulldog. But, that didn’t stop some Patrons thinking that they knew better. Despite the warnings, and despite the dark marbles already made on the last run, some Patrons still threw aventurine or other glasses into the back of the tank. It doesn’t take long for the marbles to turn dark. It does take a long time for David to get the set of the tank right again, if, in fact, he can, and for pretty marbles to come out again. One of the reasons for the great success of the Tributes three runs is that David has been left in charge. He was left in charge of what glass to buy and what to start with and how to set the tank. The blushes, the oxbloods and the swatches of aventurine in marbles such as Hard Core, Colonel, WVRon, and Arizona are evidence of David’s excellence when left in charge. So next time you go to a candy store or a marble factory, act like the sharing child.

oops

oops

Burt, Thank you for the grammar help which I desperately need. I hope each suceeding marble is better than the one before it.

It is sad that that this Joker isn't man enough to sign his own name when asking for something for nothing. I will post under a separate thread a small piece from my book "2008 JABO Classics: the Experimentals." It is entitled "Children in a Candy Store."