Tang Fallacy

A fallacy is a shortcut with a pothole in it. Tang Fallacy is one of the busier potholes on the road of reasoning.

The error is seductive because it imitates a virtue. It sounds like loyalty, or confidence, or common sense. But follow it home and you find it lives in a house with no foundation.

Ask any student of classical music. Ten years of scales before the first real improvisation. The shortcut generation finds this offensive; the tanpura is unmoved.

Learning is the one wealth that survives every partition of fortune. You will meet this idea again this week, wearing different clothes. Now you will recognise it.