The Cube Rule
This discussion of evidence and right from wrong today reminded me of something my friends and I found on the internet when we were having a debate about hot dogs being sandwiches, yet I unfortunately didn’t think of it at the time. There is a website titled “The Cube Rule” which lays out a basic and near-perfect food categorization chart. As someone mentioned today, a hot dog would be classified as a taco because it has starch surrounding it on three sides. Similarly, a sandwich is a sandwich because it has carbs on both the top side and bottom side of its “cube”. Toast has carbs on only the bottom face of the cube, sushi has carbs in a 4 faced “ring” structure of the cube, bread bowls are cubes that only have one face open, and calzones are completely surrounded by carbs. This method also accounts for wraps, burritos, poptarts, virtually any carbohydrate food one can think of. Now, one may ask, what about food that is only carbs, or not carbs at all? That would be classified as salad. Steak? Salad. Pasta? Salad. Soup? A wet salad. Drinks? Soups, which are just wet salads.
Of course this is such an oversimplification to the ever expanding complexities of food, but I agree with this categorization chart because I could see how it makes sense. One could say I find it “right”. I did not make it myself, yet I believe it makes sense based on my pre-existing knowledge of food. What I find interesting is that there is evidence given to the categorization of food for each example on this website. Not every food imaginable is listed, that would be impossible, but significant examples are given to show how the rule makes sense. None of the rules are truly objective, yet they seem to be once food structures have been simplified down to their most basic elements. Seeing how you agree with something is very similar to how you disagree with something else, and the type of evidence used plays a large part in that.
A logical argument should not be won with just pure persuasion alone, but in reality, that’s not how the mind works. A person can be influenced by so many subjective factors that no decision is truly rational, there’s always some subconscious factors to it. Even in something like math, there has to be pre-established rules for it to make any sense. If I say 2 + 2 = 4, it makes sense because it’s assumed that I’m just talking about numbers. But if I say 2 cats + 2 dogs = 4 cats, that makes no sense because cats and dogs are not the same. Even the differences between cats and dogs are subjectively categorized by people based on objective observations. The entire concept of right versus wrong needs some sort of context, and without it, anyone can make the rules and whoever wants to can follow them. In the end, there is some truth to the Descartes quote “I think, therefore I am” .
Of course this is such an oversimplification to the ever expanding complexities of food, but I agree with this categorization chart because I could see how it makes sense. One could say I find it “right”. I did not make it myself, yet I believe it makes sense based on my pre-existing knowledge of food. What I find interesting is that there is evidence given to the categorization of food for each example on this website. Not every food imaginable is listed, that would be impossible, but significant examples are given to show how the rule makes sense. None of the rules are truly objective, yet they seem to be once food structures have been simplified down to their most basic elements. Seeing how you agree with something is very similar to how you disagree with something else, and the type of evidence used plays a large part in that.
A logical argument should not be won with just pure persuasion alone, but in reality, that’s not how the mind works. A person can be influenced by so many subjective factors that no decision is truly rational, there’s always some subconscious factors to it. Even in something like math, there has to be pre-established rules for it to make any sense. If I say 2 + 2 = 4, it makes sense because it’s assumed that I’m just talking about numbers. But if I say 2 cats + 2 dogs = 4 cats, that makes no sense because cats and dogs are not the same. Even the differences between cats and dogs are subjectively categorized by people based on objective observations. The entire concept of right versus wrong needs some sort of context, and without it, anyone can make the rules and whoever wants to can follow them. In the end, there is some truth to the Descartes quote “I think, therefore I am” .
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