3 ms·

Merriam-Webster gives a definition "vague speculation : a belief without sound basis"

dr_dshiv 4y ago
Read anything about mysticism and see why that’s a lazy person definition. In any case, the term is not appropriate as a description of “appeal to authority.” https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/
- twitchard 4y ago
  Words can have multiple meanings, my friend. The word's root just means "full of mystery", which is completely appropriate in this context -- describing people who accept the authority of fancy equations as a mystery, instead of delving deeper for a justification from first principles. It's true that mysticism also has a more specific meaning i.e. describing particular strains of religious or philosophic thought and practice that are tied to the idea of "mystery" in a different way, but I see no reason this meaning should have a monopoly on the word, considering the etymology, see https://www.etymonline.com/word/mystic?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_19351 https://www.etymonline.com/word/mystic?ref=etymonline_crossr...
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    Words can have multiple meanings. And, some of those meanings can be based on ignorance, bias and sloppiness. It is fair to critique the use of words when they obscure actual meaning. Appeals to authority is not mysticism.
    - twitchard 4y ago
      Ignorance of what? Bias against who? Religious mystics? That's like saying it's wrong to use "charismatic" to mean "attractive" because that word needs to be reserved for religious charismatics, or that it's wrong to use the word "agnostic" to mean "noncommital" because that word needs to be reserved for the religious gnostics and agnostics, or that it's wrong to call have "developer evangelists" because that word needs to be reserved for religious evangelicals.
    - twitchard 4y ago
      Also, appeals to authority is "person X says Y, person X has a PhD, therefore Y". There is no "Person X" here. The authority, if there is one, is a mysterious authority possessed by the form of the argument itself. Or, you might say, a "mystical" authority.

Read anything about mysticism and see why that’s a lazy person definition. In any case, the term is not appropriate as a description of “appeal to authority.” https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mysticism/

twitchard 4y ago
Words can have multiple meanings, my friend. The word's root just means "full of mystery", which is completely appropriate in this context -- describing people who accept the authority of fancy equations as a mystery, instead of delving deeper for a justification from first principles. It's true that mysticism also has a more specific meaning i.e. describing particular strains of religious or philosophic thought and practice that are tied to the idea of "mystery" in a different way, but I see no reason this meaning should have a monopoly on the word, considering the etymology, see https://www.etymonline.com/word/mystic?ref=etymonline_crossreference#etymonline_v_19351 https://www.etymonline.com/word/mystic?ref=etymonline_crossr...
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  Words can have multiple meanings. And, some of those meanings can be based on ignorance, bias and sloppiness. It is fair to critique the use of words when they obscure actual meaning. Appeals to authority is not mysticism.
  - twitchard 4y ago
    Ignorance of what? Bias against who? Religious mystics? That's like saying it's wrong to use "charismatic" to mean "attractive" because that word needs to be reserved for religious charismatics, or that it's wrong to use the word "agnostic" to mean "noncommital" because that word needs to be reserved for the religious gnostics and agnostics, or that it's wrong to call have "developer evangelists" because that word needs to be reserved for religious evangelicals.
  - twitchard 4y ago
    Also, appeals to authority is "person X says Y, person X has a PhD, therefore Y". There is no "Person X" here. The authority, if there is one, is a mysterious authority possessed by the form of the argument itself. Or, you might say, a "mystical" authority.