Bulverism

This was definitely harder to read than Meditations, as it deals with more complicated topics. I felt that the first half of "Bulverism" was somewhat of an extension of "Meditations," from yesterday. They share a similar topic of people's interpretation and experience of something.  The first page and a half display Lewis' style that makes it easy for readers. He uses the example of the balance in the bank. For one to say that Lewis does not have such balance in a bank, one must do the math himself first. Only if he comes up with a different result, can he comment on Lewis' psychological condition. Lewis explains that it this example is applicable to all systems.

 It is the same with all thinking and all systems of thought. If you try to find out which are tainted by speculating about the wishes of the thinkers, you are merely making a fool of yourself. You must find out on purely logical grounds which of them do, in fact, break down as arguments. Afterwards, if you like, go on and discover the psychological causes of the error.

Lewis points out that so many people do it wrong, that he has had to come up with the term "Bulverism" in order to describe this behavior. This is the part I liked best, as it incorporated some humor into it.

I call it “Bulverism.” Some day I am going the write the biography of its imaginary inventor, Ezekiel Bulver, whose destiny was determined at the age of five when he heard his mother say to his father - who had been maintaining that two sides of a triangle were together greater than the third - “Oh, you say that because you are a man.” “At that moment,” E. Bulver assures us, “there flashed across my opening mind the great truth that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume your opponent is wrong, and then explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall.”

As Lewis points out (along with some of my classmates), Bulverism is commonly seen in politics. However, because I am not nearly as educated in politics as I probably should be, I find that Bulverism is also commonly seen on the internet. Lewis defines Bulverism as not needing to refute any argument, assuming that your opponent is wrong. As the internet virtually links up everyone in the world, many people have found it as a means of expressing their opinions. While interchanging ideas can be a positive thing, there are people who "argue" on topics without actually bringing any valid arguments. Bulverism on the internet is at work when one posts comments that say their opponents are wrong and insult them and their mothers. I think that Internet bulverism may be the lowest form of bulverism. As an identity on the Internet is almost meaningless, the fact that one hides behind this anonymity just to hurl insults at people is cowardly.