For this blog, the topic I found interesting was on logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are an error in reasoning, where something seems to be true but is actually not true. These are problems with how a speaker has developed their argument or discussion. It is pretty common for most people to not even know what these fallacies are, or know enough about them to be able to identify when someone is using one when communicating. There are several different types of logical fallacies. There are Slippery Slope, Ad hominem Attacks, Straw Person Arguments, Red Herring Fallacy, False Cause, Personal Incredulity, Anecdotal, Genetic, Loaded Questions, and No True Scotsman. Here are some examples are Slippery slope reasoning, Ad hominem attacks, False Cause, and Red herring fallacy.
Slippery slope reasoning is saying if one event occurs then another event will occur because of that first event that happened. An example of this is seen in the movie, Mean Girls. It is seen in the clip where the health teacher is explaining to his class that if you have sex you will get pregnant and die. This is saying if you do this one thing, then this will happen to you no matter what.
Ad hominem attacks are attacking the person’s character instead of their ideas or concepts. For example, Ad homenim attack is seen in a Spongebob Squarepantsepisode. Patrick thought Spongebob stole his candy bar, and instead of stating his argument of why he thought Spongebob stole it, Patrick just calls him a liar. This doesn’t really address the issue of whether Spongebob stole the candy bar or not. He is just attacking Spongebob’s character.
False Cause is thinking that there is a relationship between two things that happened, when actually those two things are not related to each other at all. An example of a False Cause fallacy is seen in Friends. Joey thinks the reason his fridge broke is because of his new roommates, when actually it is because the fridge is really old and he needs to get a new one. This is showing that Joey thinks whoever came and used the fridge is to blame for it being broken, and it has nothing to do with the actual fridge itself.
Red herring fallacy is where the speaker is trying to change the subject by bringing in an irrelevant topic. This fallacy is seen in the Disney movie, Brave, during the scene at the dinner table when the Queen tells her daughter that a princess does not set her weapons on the table. The Queen then says, “A princess should not have weapons in my opinion.” The King then says, “Princess or not, learning to fight is essential!” This is Red Herring because the Queen wants her daughters weapon off the table during dinner, and the King changes the topic immediately by stating everyone should know how to fight, when that has nothing to do with the weapon being on the table and ends the discussion between the Queen and her daughter.
It’s important to be able to recognize these fallacies and avoid them because if a listener recognizes one of these fallacies in your message, they are probably not going to believe anything you have to say and may potentially call you out on your false reasoning. Also, being able to know and recognize when someone is using a logical fallacy, shows your knowledge and helps you evaluate arguments in many aspects of life, like in political campaigns. If you can recognize these fallacies and know how to avoid them, it makes your own arguments more credible for those who are listening.
Here is the link for the Slippery Slope fallacy in Mean Girls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5xkxTfVLSA
Here is the link for the Ad hominem Attack in SpongeBob Squarepants: https://youtu.be/n-rhuo1vnKE
Here is the link for the False Cause fallacy in Friends: https://youtu.be/Mq_FvfqPji4
Here is the link for the Red Herring fallacy in Brave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p1_4unwrao
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