Dumb Teaser

   Fox Cable
news network kept using a story about dogs as a tease to keep people tuned
 through the commercial.  "In our next segment we'll look at a report in 
Science Magazine" that questions whether your dog really loves you or is
 genetically programmed to appear that way."  It seemed so silly that I 
looked up the story in Science Magazine on the internet.  It turns out that
 the actual research had nothing to do with the "tease."  It was about how wild
 wolves evolved into dogs.

   The tease line is interesting, because we often have this false question
 of duality in philosophy.  For example, "Do we have free will or are we
 genetically programmed to act the way we do." or "Is a criminal responsible
 for his actions, or is he genetically programmed to behave that way."  The
 logical error boils down to stating the question using what is termed the "exclusive
 OR" as opposed to "AND/OR".  In other words, both propositions can be true.
   Here are some other "tease lines" in the same catagory.  Stay tuned to 
find out:
"Is your stomach pain real or do you just have an irritated lining?"
 
"Do you really see that painting you love, or is your retina just sending
 impulses to your cortex?"
  
"Do we really have a philosophy club or just a bunch of people who like to 
exercise their intellects?"  Interpreting "or" as "and/or" rather than
"exclusive or" solves these difficulties.   Arf. Arf.