- Published: July 28, 2022
- Updated: July 28, 2022
- University / College: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 36
In the course of our day to day activities, there are chances that we commit many fallacies without noticing. However, knowledge of the common fallacies could be useful in avoiding those fallacies. For example, there are various fallacies perpetuated in both the print and the electronic media. A case in point is a ‘ WikiHow’ tutorial on ‘ How to Get Rich.’’The article lists five key things: saving money, reducing living expenses, investing, enriching oneself through a career, and going mortgage free. The author of the article commits Dicto Simpliciter. Max Shulman defined Dicto Simplifier as “ an argument based on an unqualified generalization. “ While the steps listed may have made some people rich, it would be foolhardy to expect everybody in the world to get rich through those steps alone. In addition, the article does not envisage a scenario, whereby someone gets rich through other factors such as inheritance or lottery. Therefore, the author seems to have made an unqualified generalization through the title of the article “ 5 Ways to Get Rich.” In this case, the fallacy is committed because many of the people who have attained riches may not advocate them or financial life coaches.
False analogy is another common analogy. Max Shulman gives an example that alludes that false analogy is the use of different situations to make an analogy between them. During the 2010 World Cup, an octopus named Paul became popular because it could supposedly predict the outcome of the games ahead of kickoff. Writing for the Guardian, Marcus Christenson wrote that Paul had predicted that Spain would win the World Cup. The predictions were based on the food that Paul chose to eat. The foods were wrapped in the colors of the playing teams, and the color of the food that Paul ate would be predicted as the winner of the match. While some of the ‘ predictions’ could be correct, logically, there is nothing that links the octopus to what happened in the field. Eating food wrapped in the national colors of a certain country, and playing in the World Cup are two different things that are independent of each other. The fallacy is committed because Paul allegedly predicted many of the matches correctly.
Lastly, ‘ poisoning the well’ is another fallacy that is common in international relations. Max Shulman gave an example that portrays that poisoning the well occurs when an opponent discredits what the other side is going to say even before they say anything. A case in point is the recent Russia-Ukraine crisis. Writing for the Washington Post, John Curran says that Russia accused Ukraine of failing to act in the interest of its citizens, especially in Crimea while it was evident that Russia had already violated Ukrainian territorial integrity by sending its troops to take over Crimea. Here, Curran points out the logical fallacy in the Russian argument by illustrating how Russia discredited Ukraine by accusing it of failing to act in interest of Russian citizens, and sent troops to Crimea even before Ukraine could reply through an appropriate channel. This is a classic example of poisoning the well, which is very popular in international politics.
Reflecting on my personal life, I remember unwittingly committing a ‘ poisoning the well fallacy’ by accusing a good friend of being a snitch when we got into a heated argument, although that was not true. I just wanted to say something that would hurt my friend in the heat of the moment. Again, I remember committing hasty generalization when I made a comment sometime back that online payments are not safe, when I read that some people’s credit cards were hacked after making online payments. Lastly, I remember committing a ‘ Dicto Simplifier’ when I said that the use of hormonal contraceptives is bad.
All these scenarios show that as humans, we are prone to making logical fallacies. The important thing is to reform our way of thinking, and recognize these kind of logical fallacies early in our thought process. We should try as far as possible to avoid these kind of fallacies, because they distort our perception of reality, and make us say or do things based on this distorted reality, which we come to regret later. In my own case, I intend to henceforth apply these points of thinking to my own thought process in daily life.
Works Cited
Christenson, Marcus. Psychic Octopus Paul Predicts Spain to Beat Holland in World Cup Final. 9 July 2010. Web. 19 June 2014
Curran, John. Russian-Ukrainian Conflict Explained. 6 March 2014. Web. 19 June 2014
Estel, Alan J. and Jonathan B. Wpendy. How to Get Rich. n. d. Web. 19 June 2014
Shulman, Max. Love is a Fallacy. n. d. Web. 19 June 2014