Logical Fallacies

You Need To Be Aware Of Deception

Knowing logical fallacies are a powerful tool to avoid deception.

Whether intentional or not there are things that we see and hear which can guide us into certain belief systems.

It can be considered propaganda or brainwashing. The information we receive is often twisted to cause us to get in line with an ideology.

Understanding logical fallacies can help protect us from that.

There are tons of them. Here’s a list with explanations.

But, let me give you some examples so you can see the power and value. You can see how prevalent they are in our culture.

Appeal to Ridicule. 

It is a fact that a large number of people get their political, social and spiritual knowledge from comedians.

A comedian will make a joke about God, a political figure, or an ideology.

This makes the idea or person seem ridiculous, and therefore should not be believed.

Just because you can make fun of a person or ridicule their ideas, does not mean the person or idea is wrong.

That’s the fallacy.

You can watch Saturday Night Live or other shows and see this fallacy all the time.

You can see this in the work place when discussing a subject. A person will pop off with some rant ridiculing the person or idea.

Ad Hominim.

Very similar to Appeal to Ridicule is ad Hominim. Which means, “against the man”.

Basically it’s where you attack the person, instead of proving them wrong. The minute you attack the person, you prove that you really have no argument to prove your case.

Some examples, from our current political culture would be to hear a person’s opinion. Then call them stupid. Or call them, libtard, communist, racist, hater, misogynist, homophobe, leftist, right winger, extremist, or any number of other attacks designed to shut down debate.

These are logical fallacies, because labeling a person or calling them names, does not prove their ideas wrong.

It’s lazy, and it creates enemies. If your goal is to get someone to see your side of the argument. Then, calling them names won’t do it.

It generates fear, which silences people. They fear being labeled as well. But, it doesn’t change their mind. It just creates an undercurrent of resentment and rebellion.

It’s a fallacy of reasoning.

Strawman.

Strawman is a popular fallacy. Basically, a person will be discussing a subject,  like immigration. Then, they will use a completely different example and attack it.

They might say, “immigration is like your house. Would you just let anyone come and sit on your couch? We have doors and locks for a reason.”

This is a strawman. They created another concept, then attacked it, instead of sticking with the real subject.

Immigration is immigration. It is not your house. See? The discussion needs to remain focused on the actual subject. Not a strawman.

This is a fallacy or reasoning.

It’s also deceptive.

As you watch the news media you will see all kinds of fallacies used to control how people think.

Appeal to Authority.

This is a huge one.

You will see this in media a lot. “Studies have shown” or “Joe blow the expert says…” or “Julie the famous person says…”

Using a person’s perceived authority to make a case does not prove the case true or false. 

Just wait , another study will come. Experts will disagree, and famous people are not experts.

Do not be deceived. Someones alleged authority does not mean they are right.

That’s the fallacy.

Appeal to Emotion

In this fallacy the idea is to use emotion to get a person to agree.

For example.  Let’s say we want to build a fence around a pond, because a child drowned in the pond.

So we use the emotional argument in order to get our way. Not because of reasoning. But emotion. Gun control often uses emotion instead of reasoned arguments. 

There are tons of examples. Our modern political landscape is full of emotional arguments.

If you start to feel like a monster when you make a case against an argument. Then, you are probably facing an appeal to emotion.

We often see this during The State of The Union address. When the President brings out a child, or widow, or injured person in order to make their case that we need change of some kind.

We don’t want to be hard hearted.

But, we cannot let emotions over throw our reasoning powers. We do not want to throw out the baby with the bath water, so to speak.

There are many more fallacies.

Do not be deceived by them or people who use them. Behave like an attorney. You need real evidence or proof.

Even if you trust the person speaking or writing.

It doesn’t matter. People often use fallacies and do not even realize they are doing it.

It’s not always intentional.

This is why it’s up to you to educate yourself, in order to see what is happening in public discourse.

But, understand also that just because a person uses fallacies, it doesn’t mean their view is wrong, or untrue. It just means that they are not making a valid argument.

Seek what’s true and provable.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

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