Times.konradturski.com – Political and Economic Commentary by a Postgrad in London

Consider an experiment in which the experimenter pre-establishes not  only his or her assumptions, but also the data, the method, the observations and the conclusions of their trial. It’s the empirical equivalent of a one-man judge, jury, and executioner, and it’s a common practice in philosophical novels and America’s new superhero genre.

It’s not entirely a bad thing: many atheists have long held the Bible to be just this kind of deterministic morality play, and many more, myself included, find moral proselytizing to be valuable regardless of whether viewed through a secular or faith-based lens. But therein in lies the catch.

There is a difference between, on the one hand, finding a train of thought valuable for its normative or moral pedigree (“Value by Induction”), and, on the other hand, equating that value with a sound logical foundation (“Value by Deduction”). Both Ayn Rand and Director Christopher Nolan should be commended for continuing the long tradition of the former; we, on the other hand, should know better than to do the latter.

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Spoiler: There Will be Blood is the secret sequel to Brokeback Mountain, except with even fewer women.

But more milkshakes!