Premises and Conclusion - By Andrew4Handel

Caldwell December 10, 2022 at 02:20 825 views 7 comments
Conclusion: Love Does not exist
Premise 1 Things that exist are physical
Premise 2 Things that are physical can be measured
Premise 3 You can't measure love
Conclusion: Therefore love doesn't exist

So that is why I don't feel love Marci told herself. I am not a psycho. I have proven conclusively it doesn't exist.
people had been mistaken bodily changes for emotions. Tears made them feel sad smiling made them feel happy but there was nothing else going on. She immediately wanted to tell this to her best friend Mark.

He greeted her with a warm smile. Yes I agree with you he said his eyes lighting up. She felt a surge of gratitude that he hadn't called her mad and grasped his hand tightly. Her skin tingled and she blushed under the intense look in his eyes.

Comments (7)

javi2541997 December 10, 2022 at 09:07 #762472
The start of this story is original but I think is not the specific way to include it on a short story. Literature is about imagination and surrealism. I think the author can express heartbreak in many different ways and I respect it, but I don't see a right choice to use "logic" or "Aristotle's syllogisms" to do so. If Marci doesn't feel love, I guess is an emotional issue rather than a logical conclusion.
Vera Mont December 10, 2022 at 15:54 #762548
It's lovely. Concise, subtle, a little bit sneaky. I like it very much.
Amity December 12, 2022 at 17:43 #763177
Premises and Conclusion

Reminds me a little of that brilliant novel: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Marci and Mark - artificial friends. Androids.
A mix of artificial intelligence computing but not quite understanding human love.

I like it :up:
Of course, nowhere near as deep and memorable as Klara and her journey. And not expected to be. Definitely a step in the right direction, very clever :sparkle:
Benj96 December 14, 2022 at 16:59 #763850
Quoting Caldwell
Conclusion: Love Does not exist
Premise 1 Things that exist are physical
Premise 2 Things that are physical can be measured
Premise 3 You can't measure love
Conclusion: Therefore love doesn't exist


I like the circular argument here. Very clever. It has a dual meaning. Because it shows that conclusions are also premises.

The conclusions is put at the start. That I think was not a mistake. Being at the start, it is in fact a premise, a priori knowledge/assertion, in disguise as "conclusion" , and thus the premises are therefore "conclusions" in disguise.

In a linear train of thought, a conclusion is an answer to a premise - a statement or a question. However every answer poses new questions. And if an answer poses a new question it is a premise for further thought.

Quoting Caldwell
He greeted her with a warm smile. Yes I agree with you he said his eyes lighting up. She felt a surge of gratitude that he hadn't called her mad and grasped his hand tightly. Her skin tingled and she blushed under the intense look in his eyes.


Ah yes, from an understanding, patient and tolerant and non-judgemental state, Mark has demonstrated elements of love towards Marci, he values her validates her, has time to listen and she's grateful for it.

She was worried he'd call her mad or a psycho perhaps. Bit he did not. She seems to have self doubt, low self esteem or anxiety regarding her beliefs and what people might think of her. But he is demonstrating virtue.

Quoting Caldwell
Her skin tingled and she blushed under the intense look in his eyes.


The start of a deeper relationship, could it be? Is he restoring her faith in the good, the warmth, the love of others. Her skin tingles, she feels alive, her stomach filled with butterflies, who is this man that sees her, acknowledges her. Could he be, a loving person?

In essence, love is not physical as its a concept or phenomenon, a set of conditions of interaction. You cannot pick up love and say this is love, behold. An object that one loves is lust, desire, obsession, addiction. But not love.

However you can demonstrate love only through action.

A loving person is an object that loves. A characteristic of a physical thing. What that thing "does". It is the closest thing one has to physical proof of love.

In summary, this story I think is about contradiction between qualities (immaterial) and quantitative, material, physical things - objects, people.

I think premise one is where Marci went wrong. She is perhaps a very rational, objective scientific person. She only believes in that which can be observed as material. But what is material is not all of what is physical - because physical includes physical phenomenon too - observable actions.
Amity December 14, 2022 at 17:15 #763858
Reply to Benj96 Excellent. I'm glad you went into the details wider and deeper :clap:
Vera Mont December 14, 2022 at 17:23 #763864
"Is this a date?"
"No, no, we're just friends having a coffee together."
"Oh, that's all right then."
"So, you want to have dinner sometime?"
"Sure, as long as it's not a date, just friends sharing a meal"
"Yeah, that's it."
As long as you avoid the big, scary, dangerous labels, you can relax and enjoy the experience.
Andrew4Handel December 28, 2022 at 23:33 #767247
Reply to Benj96 That is great and an exact explanation of what my story was about.