LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Reductio Ad Absurdum
built 501 days ago
"By mixing equal parts wildly improvisational jazz and heavy rhythmic emphasis over a background layer of recorded fire-and-brimstone preaching, Reductio Ad Absurdum have virtually patented their own kind of music. There were moments when the Asheville-based trio had no less than seven instruments going full-bore. Even more stunning was that they managed to keep the music listenable for their entire set, holding the full attention of the small audience."
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Reductio Ad Absurdum were asked by Interaction to present a brand new show for the Worldcon. As a company specialising in epics they quickly realised that there was one epic they had yet to lampoon, one comic Everest left to climb: Star Wars! And so, with malice aforethought, they set about creating an ambitious production that would cover the entire six movies in one hour - no mean feat considering the script had to be finished six months before the final movie came out.
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The Latin term, Reductio ad absurdum (“reduction to the absurd”) refers to a method of proving the falsity of a premise by showing that its logical consequence is absurd. Inspired by this classical expression, modern political philosopher Leo Strauss coined a new term: Reductio ad Hitlerum. Strauss noted that political demagogues employ the “reduction to Hitler” method very often in order to silence their opponents. They just had to find an irrelevant similarity with the Nazis, and then “reduce” their opponents to this deeply and rightfully hated gang.
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Reductio Ad Absurdum was formed in 1995 to perform Dune, or the Sand of Music at Intersection, the previous Glasgow Worldcon. Consisting of only 3 members (Phil Raines, Ian Sorensen and Jackie McRobert) you might think it odd that they tackled a work of such huge scope and epic scale as Dune, but that's how stupid they are.
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Reductio Ad Absurdum's music works so well live because the band never veers too far from fundamental melodies of its drum-driven dark-jazz songs. Instead of delivering the loose, gummy feel of a jam band, Absurdum gives off all the rhythmic urgency of a punk group – though subverting that perception every so often with a solo of maddeningly variable tone colors.
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In formal logic, reductio ad absurdum is used when a formal contradiction can be derived from a premise, allowing one to conclude that the premise is false. If a contradiction is derived from a set of premises, this shows that at least one of the premises is false; if there are several, other means must be used to determine which ones. Mathematical proofs are sometimes constructed using reductio ad absurdum, by first assuming the opposite of the theorem the presenter wishes to prove, then reasoning logically from that assumption until presented with a contradiction. Upon reaching the contradiction, the assumption is disproved and therefore its opposite, due to the law of excluded middle, must be true. Such proofs in mathematics are sometimes called informal proofs, but are no less valid than a "formal" mathematical proof arrived at through reduction to equality.
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