The Logic of This is why I’m Hot
Matthew Yglesias of The Atlantic clearly studied philosophy while at Harvard. And according to his bio, that is the case. When you take philosophy, you’ll encounter formal logic. You may take one or several classes on the topic. This may surprise you, but this can be handy in discussions of popular music.
For example, Mr. Yglesias asks the question: is Mims’ #1 single “This is Why I’m Hot” making the logical fallacy of affirming the consequent? Mims says that he is hot because he is fly, and “you ain’t ‘cause you’re not.”
It’s a controversial topic certainly. One that’s sure to fly in the face of philosophers everywhere. But if Yglesias’s account isn’t enough, treat yourself to this breakdown of the logic in Mims’ song in this article in the Village Voice from Rob Harvilla. It’s quite a delight and includes some Venn diagrams in case you need help getting a grasp on hot and fly and not hot and not fly.
If only every rap song caused this much intellectualizing. [via Cosmic Variance]
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