Editing 1901: Logical

{{comic
| number    = 1901
| date      = October 11, 2017
| title     = Logical
| image     = logical.png
| titletext = It's like I've always said--people just need more common sense. But not the kind of common sense that lets them figure out that they're being condescended to by someone who thinks they're stupid, because then I'll be in trouble.
}}

==Explanation==
[[White Hat]] says that problems in society could be avoided if people relied on logic and science rather than feelings—but when [[Cueball]] presses him to back up his claim, White Hat insists that his claim must be true, because ''it just seems obvious'' (to White Hat), and what the opposition (which he dismissively refers to as "these idiots") believes is crap in his opinion. Since White Hat refers to all people in general and since he falls in the same trap as he complains about, using his feelings for his case instead of logic and science, White Hat's argument is both fallacious and hypocritical.

The title text is White Hat's opinion, where he states that he has always said that people just need more {{w|common sense}}. He then adds, but not the kind of common sense that lets them figure out that he is condescending (i.e. talking down to them) and basically thinks that they are stupid. If they did, they would probably realize that White Hat considers himself smarter than them, and likely feel insulted and take retribution. (At the same time, he may himself lack this form of "common sense," as Cueball's question could be seen as a veiled insult highlighting White Hat's hypocrisy.)

When people talk about "common sense", they often really mean "they should think like I do". Using a term like "common sense" as a proxy for one's personal point of view implies that everyone else should have the same point of view. This discredits the fact that each person has their own point of view, completely valid to their own mind, and any attempts to push someone else's idea of a "common sense" upon them usually feels like "being talked down to" because of the implicit "fact" that that person's point of view is "common" and makes "sense", and therefore they must be smarter than you if you don't agree with their "common sense".

Ironically, there is some inconclusive scientific evidence against White Hat's position. It is possible that effective rational thought depends on feelings and emotions as a preprocessing step. For example, people with damage to the {{w|ventromedial prefrontal cortex}} lose their ability to have gut reactions to decision options. In the rather cute {{w|Antonio Damasio}}'s research, they were unable to make good decisions in everyday life. This may be because every option seems emotionally as good as any other and the brain is not good at conscious processing of large numbers of alternatives. See ''{{w|Descartes' Error}}'' by Damasio (1994) and ''{{w|The Righteous Mind}}'' by Haidt (2012).

==Transcript==

:[White Hat is spreading his arms and facing Cueball.]
:White Hat: We wouldn't have all these problems if people just learned to be more ''logical'' and ''science-driven'' instead of relying on ''feelings''.
:Cueball: Oh? What study are you basing that on?
:White Hat: It just seems obvious!
:White Hat: I mean, look at the crap these idiots believe!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]