Re: [Fwd: Position in the World-System andNationalEmissions of](fwd)

[Ken Hanly <khanly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As someone else pointed out Cox's example was not a tautology. To say that something is a tautology is to say that it is true for formal reasons and not
contingent upon empirical facts. Some equations are contradictions and so are false for formal reasons. Mathematics is trivial in that it makes no empirical
claims or is consistent with any possible set of empirical facts. John Stuart Mill would agree with you. He thinks that 2 plus 2 is 4 is an empirical fact
illustrated by adding 2 marbles to 2 more etc. But getting 1 drop from adding 2 drops to 2 others doesn't refute the proposition that 2 plus 2 is 4 or just
show it is highly probable. At least I am as firm on that as Mark is on the oil crisis.
   Cheers, Ken Hanly

P.S. Sorry I did not delete earlier messages in my reply to Mark Jones.
PS. Re cattle raising and Louis. The standard mode of cattle raising hereabouts and I expect in most of North America is two stage: cow calf ranchers,
feedlot finishers. On ranches cattle and calves are pastured and also fed hay mixed with grains such as oats and/barley-in winter of course pasture is not
an option.. On reaching a certain range of weights the calves are sold, often at auction, to feedlot operators who then finish the cattle for market. At the
feedlot there will be extensive feeding of hay, grains etc. to quickly add weight. Some farmers may also have feedlots and others also may practice
backgrounding, adding further weight to the calves before marketing them--espeically if they have plentiful feed supplies. During the cow calf operation the
feed is in the pasture, the farmer will often have his own hay and even grains. Grains for feeding will be transported long distances only if they are not
available locally. Even hay may be trucked long distances in case of local shortages, but this would be the exception not the rule. Feed materials are
bought by feedlots from the nearest sources.

Charles Brown wrote:

> If you are implying that there are no non-trivial tautologies, isn't mathematics all about non-trivial tautologies ? All equations are tautologies, no ?
>
> CB
>