You must read Crimes against Logic

March 25, 2007   

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Jamie Whyte’s angry and witty rant against the rhetoric, faulty reasoning and misinformation we are subjected to from all sources is fascinating, enlightening and fun. The book is a quick read and will equip you with the tools you need to become a staunch defender of truth.

You can buy it at:
http://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Against-Logic-Jamie-Whyte/dp/0071446435/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5283451-1587818?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174864371&sr=8-1

  • I am reminded of that dialogue in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”:

    Ron Burgundy: Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale’s vagina.
    Veronica Corningstone: No, there’s no way that’s correct.
    Ron Burgundy: I’m sorry, I was trying to impress you. I don’t know what it means. I’ll be honest, I don’t think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.
    Veronica Corningstone: Doesn’t it mean Saint Diego?
    Ron Burgundy: No. No.
    Veronica Corningstone: No, that’s – that’s what it means. Really.
    Ron Burgundy: Agree to disagree.

    I read part of Crimes Against Logic. It often feels like part of the journey to intellectual honesty involves discarding some of our natural social tendencies. This is difficult to do, which is why nonsense is a commodity. Societies form and evolve around common beliefs, yet it seems, ironically enough, that the larger and more powerful a society is, the more invalid its shared belief tends to be. Religions, our largest societies, treat the most absurd claim possible as an axiom.

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  • hey fabrice,

    April 1st 2006 was when you launched OLX and Allmydata last year. How about an update. Would be interesting to see the progress the companies have made in the past year and your views of the market. Also how is phanfare doing as well ? What is your view of the current bubble around web 2.0, any new startups on the horizon for you ?

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  • Mike,

    To be honest I am not a huge fan of talking about the companies I am working on. It mostly provides information to competitors and can be misread internally. I just did the April Fool’s joke last year without really providing any information.

    That’s also why I have been avoiding doing any PR in the US – not to mention I have been too busy trying to improve the product and doing deals to talk to the press.

    That said, I might give an update about Allmydata in the coming weeks as as lot of things are changing…

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