With all the arguing surrounding the Michael Brown & Eric Garner cases, the Police state, the Bill Cosby accusations and other hot button topics, it has come to my attention that there needs to be discussion about how to have discussions and what logical fallacies are. A logical fallacy is a device that can often be introduced in the course of a debate, argument or discussion. But for the purposes of this writing, I want to focus on DISCUSSIONS. For me, a discussion is a sharing of ideas and theories, whether they be poorly or supremely conceived, in an exploration to illuminate a particular subject matter and break new ground on the topic. Often discussions devolve into debates and arguments and become circular by means of logical fallacies. This is an attempt to derail the discussion for the secret purposes of certain participants. Often the fallacy is introduced because a participant secretly agrees with the theoretical argument that is being put forth but does not want to admit to it. In a debate the motive is simply to win. In a personal argument its to gain supremacy and dominance over another participant for deeper reasons that I will illustrate later. There are also times when logical fallacies are innocently introduced because the participant simply doesnt understand the argument. In that case you can politely course correct them and move forward with the discussion. If you see it being done repetitively, the participant is being subversive. But for now here are the tools to spotting people who use logical fallacies. In this day of “Internet Trolls” this tool will help you spot and disarm them quickly as logical fallacy is their favorite weapon. The most popular logical fallacy: Straw man It derives its name from old war training tactics. Soldiers used to practice fighting against dummy soldiers made of straw i.e. Straw men that were much easier to fight than real men. The Straw man fallacy is when someone hears your argument, understands it and secretly agrees with its soundness but for a hidden reason turns your argument into something they can more easily debate and a thereby Win the discussion. They remove the real man, setup a Straw man then take it down. Giving the false appearance of winning. This is what is happening when you get the sense that someone is Putting words into your mouth. For instance. If one were to say, The best way to maintain good relationships is clear direct communication. A logical fallacy argument could be, Forcing people to talk to you is no way to make friends. The logical fallacy, while in and of itself is true, attempts to derail the original statement by subtly introducing the idea of force. BEWARE, most logical fallacies are very subtle changes in your original statement. The best and most polite way dealing with this is to simply say, Yes that is true but its beside the original point. The best way to maintain good relationships is clear direct communication, and get back on course with the discussion. Notice the original statement has not been reworded. This way it reinforces the statement and leaves less room for another attempt to make logical fallacies. Again, if the participant continues to introduce logical fallacies then they are doing something more subversive. Which leads to the deeper reasons people use logical fallacies, I mentioned earlier. WARNING: Please use the following information with tact and compassion and try not to use it against people. I am providing this tool to cultivate relationships not enemies; Logical fallacies when used persistently in interpersonal communication and discussion are often signs of poor conflict resolution skills developed at early child hood. It is a sign that critical thinking and open channels of communication were not encouraged by authority figures during child rearing. Logical fallacies often indicate that the perpetrator of the action was not encouraged to explore topical matters but most often were shut down by authority figures. It can also be a sign of abuse. So again be compassionate no matter how annoying the rhetoric gets. There are very diplomatic ways to include them into the conversation while disarming the logical fallacies all together. By restating the original statement, knowing when something is beside the point, being clear about the original point and maintaining your cool. It is even prosperous to state the type of logical fallacy being used when its being done if the perpetrator knows what it is or is willing to learn. Dont patronize. The foundation of comedy is logical fallacy so one empowering way to disarm a perpetrator is by giving them credit for being funny. I do this often and it lightens up the discussion and makes people more comfortable with exploring the topic. It makes them more likely to participate fairly without fallacy devices and open to discussion. (On a side note, its a ton of fun to engage in Reverse Straw Maning. Pose a universally preposterous statement then evolve into an argument about its validity by using logical fallacies. Add a touch of sarcasm, irony and sardonicism and the result is ALWAYS F#*KING HILARIOUS! I used this device in a recent episode of my Podcast Man Brunch where I posited, We need to raise 500 billion dollars with the Man Brunch show so we can buy all the white babys and give them to black people to adopt and raise in order to end racism. My co-host John Chambers then posited, Its only fair because white people bought all the black babies during slavery! then the hilarity ensues. While it was a funny notion, the point rang true: If people of different races became more intermingled as families with one another, there would be less fear and violence between them.) Just remember to get back to the original point after the fun and laughter. Remember the point in discussion it to break NEW ground. Remember none of us are immune to committing fallacious communication violations so be vigilant of your own attempts and have the humility to course correct. There are a myriad of them, but here are some examples of other logical fallacies to avoid in prosperous discussion: Straw Man https://youtube/watch?v=v5vzCmURh7o Red herring: https://youtube/watch?v=exdK7Lirngg Ad Hominem (Guilt by Association): https://youtube/watch?v=N_ddwtc_H0w&list=UUFLCAm7HCyw6DEY9jvOMTvA Appeal to Authority: https://youtube/watch?v=3PDrnZoM3nA Appeal to Popular Belief https://youtube/watch?v=NvBjMO8RAWs Be informed, be fearless, discuss, critically think, laugh and get somewhere in your conversations! Happy connecting and Happy New Year! Dave loves you.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 04:29:45 +0000
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