I wish I’d known about that fallacy taxonomy when I was doing my logic papers in University! How handy. They’ve put a lot of work into it.

Yes, Slippery Slope is a popular one too. Also Denying the Antecedent (modus tollens), and Affirming the Consequent (modus ponens). I couldn’t remember the names, I used the chart to find them (ha)!

I don’t have kids, but if I did I’d certainly do everything I could to homeschool them. I definitely think it’s the way to go. One of my cousins was awful at spelling in high school – like incredibly bad. It was adversely affecting his grades (of course this was way before personal computers and spell check programs). A counselor advised him to take Latin, and he did, and the result was nothing short of amazing. He ended up becoming a high school teacher himself, and this was a kid who didn’t like school because he was getting the message he wasn’t good at it. It wasn’t true, he was smart, they just didn’t give him the tools he needed to excel in that environment. But also it helps with vocabulary since so many of our words are based on Latin. I’m sure you know all this anyway. I was so ready to sign up, seeing the benefit he got from it. I was only a year behind my cousin in school, and the school in their wisdom decided to drop Latin from their curriculum. The year he took it was the last year it was offered, I missed out.

I think that common sense is one of the most important skills we can learn. I think logic is an essential part of common sense. I too had to wait until University to learn logic, although my father was very logical by nature and taught me a lot just through daily life.

After I’d taken my Logic and Argumentation Theory classes at Uni, I served as a juror on a murder trial. It was really interesting and eye opening to experience what went on in the jurors room. I think amazingly we had some strong (leader) personalities that were quite logical, could get over the emotional response they were having and work with the facts.

I had actually seen this ‘duty’ as a chore, until I realized that it would be an excellent opportunity to use what I had learned. I assumed that many of my fellow jurors would be buying into fallacies, including ad hominem, and making decisions based on emotions and how they felt about the witnesses rather than examining the facts and using logic to guide them. I was not disappointed! It was eye-opening in that many of the people who were deciding this man’s fate in a quite significant way, didn’t have the skills to do so fairly. They couldn’t look at the facts logically. They were making decisions based on their own emotions, who they liked better, etc. The key witness for the prosecution was a one-eyed, glue-sniffing prostitute who had lied in her initial statement to the police, as well as some subsequent statements. I kid you not! I did feel like I was in a movie, or maybe an episode of “Smile, You’re on Candid Camera” the whole time. But that made it even more interesting to be sure. So you can imagine the defense attorneys with this witness… I got to use the phrase ‘ad hominem’ a lot during that week! The verdict: guilty of manslaughter.

The one thing about this case I don’t know, never will and would absolutely love to know: what were the attorneys thinking going into this case? Both sides. I was quite amazed, I think it was an exceptionally logical jury all up. Those who were logical were articulate and good at explaining to the emotional thinkers. But the jury you get for any trial is like a toss of the dice. That’s the scary thing. So anyway, this is my very long-winded way of saying I completely agree with you, Logic should be taught in schools, just incorporated in everything, from the very beginning. But that might mean the end of advertising as we know it (hallelujah!) and Jenny McCarthy would be out of a job

p.s. thanks for letting me know about my site! I just checked it before I started writing this, using the link in my previous comment (in case I made a typo) and it was working. So must have been a moment of downtime there.
Donna´s last blog ..Walking Gratitude Meditation

Oh, I don’t recommend tart cherries and vanilla. I thought it might be nice, but at produced a very strange flavor profile.

Since you mentioned logic and Latin in your responses, would you care to recommend resources for either? I haven’t had formal training in either, but would like my boys to learn both as well.
Laurie N´s last blog ..Coconut Oil for Canker Sores?

LOL at the idea of a duck drinking kefir soda pop!

My water kefir grains are super hardy. They have lasted in my fridge, without refreshing the water, for weeks and months on end. Yes, I am a bad kefir mama. Most likely yours are still fine, too. Sorry, Duck!

And re: the logical fallacy… this is actually one of the main reasons I am considering homeschooling my dear daughter. She’s only 2 now, but I think I”ll start for kindergarten. I didn’t get to take a logic class until I was in college — at age 21. Why on earth shouldn’t children learn logic in elementary school? To me, it is absolutely elementary. I also think it is important for children to learn Latin. Once you learn Latin, you can slice through any romance language with ease. I am looking into doing “classical homeschooling” with my daughter, which incorporates both Latin and logic starting in elementary school.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/

And yes, the ad hominem attack is the one I see the most frequently. “What does Suzanne Somers know about cancer?” (or “What does Jenny McCarthy know about autism?”) “She’s an actress! And she’s blonde!” LOL!

The second most common logical fallacy I see online is the Slippery Slope.

Check out this wonderful site:

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/

I especially love their chart:

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/taxonomy.html

PS: I could not get your website to come up

Aside from that… I love the color of your kefir soda! I have some grains I dehydrated just before I stopped making it, and I’m about to try it again. I had the same problem as MacKenzie, I didn’t like the taste. It wasn’t bad, but I didn’t love it either. So now I see it may be due to the rapadura. I’ll try it with the organic, free-trade sugar I use in my kombucha and see how that tastes.

I can’t wait to try this recipe (I’ve not done a 2nd ferment with it yet), and the variations that are suggested in the comments. I love the idea of the apple flavor using dried apple rings. It would be a great option for winter when we don’t have much fruit in season.

By the way, I have some grains in the fridge, been there for months. I have neglected them, not refreshed the sugar water, and really done nothing with them. Do you know how long they last? Think I can revive them? It’s okay if I can’t, I’ll feed them to my duck – I had a 2 litre batch that I’d neglected and when I finally got around to disposing of it I brought it up to the chicken coop. The chickens didn’t get a look in, the duck guzzled it like I’ve never seen her guzzle before. Wow. She loved it!

Thanks for sharing this recipe, and thanks to everyone commenting for sharing your recipe variations!
Donna´s last blog ..Walking Gratitude Meditation

I can’t really answer your question because I have never tried converting dairy grains to water kefir. If it were me, I’d order the water kefir grains. I have been using water kefir grains for years now and they are very hardy.

You can find water kefir grains at Cultures For Health. See my resources page:

http://www.cheeseslave.com/resources/#starters