I call upon You, Lord, God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob and Israel, You who are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who, through the abundance of your mercy, was well-pleased towards us so that we may know You, who made heaven and earth, who rules over all, You who are the one and the true God, above whom there is no other God; You who, by our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, give to every one who reads this writing to know You, that You alone are God, to be strengthened in You, and to avoid every heretical and godless and impious teaching.

St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies 3:6:4


Sunday, March 16, 2014

Circular Reasoning, Humorously Illustrated: Weather Prediction



Late fall the Indians on a remote reservation in North Dakota asked
 their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.

Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the
 old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the
 winter was going to be like.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the
 winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village
 should collect firewood to be prepared.

But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He
 went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and
 asked, 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?'

'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,' the
 meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even
 more firewood in order to be prepared.

A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Does it
 still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?'

'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'it's going
 to be a very cold winter.'

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect
 every scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Service again.
 'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?'

'Absolutely,' the man replied. 'It's looking more and more like it is
 going to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen.'

'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, 'The Indians are collecting tons of
 firewood'!

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