Ah, arguments. All of us get into them, and since this is a presidential election year, almost everything is going to turn into an argument these days, especially in the media. In this era of fake news, the ability to recognize when an argument has faulty logic is crucial. Faulty logic permeates the world we live in. Here are some of the most common examples.
Ad Hominem Attack
Ad Hominem is Latin for "To the man." This fallacy is when a person tries to attack an argument by attacking the person that presented it.
"Luke, I am your father. You have to eat your vegetables. Vegetables are good for you!"
"That's not true. That's impossible! You're a Sith Lord and have murdered millions of people. Vegetables can't be good for you."
While it may be true that Luke Skywalker's father is a Sith Lord that has murdered millions of people, that doesn't mean that vegetables aren't good for you. The content of your character doesn't determine the validity of your argument.
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Genetic Fallacy
This is when someone attacks an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who began it.
"I never buy Volkswagens. If you buy a Volkswagen, you are an anti-Semite and a Nazi."
"What? Why?"
"You know who started Volkswagen, right? It was Adolf Hitler."
Just because Volkswagen was started by Adolf Hitler to be a "people's car" for the Germans doesn't mean that the company today is an evil one or that no one should buy Volkswagens.
The "Adolf Hitler" Attack
This is often either one of the first two or a combination. The "Adolf Hitler" attack is when someone either brings up that Adolf Hitler believed that or simply calls you a Nazi and thinks they've invalidated your argument. "Nazi" is just a form of name-calling and easy to combat. Even if it's true, the Ad Hominem attack still applies. Just because you're a horrible person doesn't mean your argument is illogical.
"I believe we should build more highways that stretch across the country to enhance ease of travel for our citizens."
"That's wrong. We shouldn't do that. You know who also believed that? Adolf Hitler. Ever heard of the Autobahn?"
"So you believe anything Adolf Hitler believed has to be wrong?"
"Of course! I think we can all agree that if Adolf Hitler believed something, it has to be wrong."
"You do know that Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, right?"
Tu Quoque
Tu Quoque is Latin for "You too." This fallacy is saying someone's argument doesn't count because they do it too, or an argument from hypocrisy.
"Darth Sidious, you shouldn't kill Luke. It's not right."
"Oh, come on, Vader, like you've never murdered someone's son before!"
Just because Vader murders people doesn't make it okay for you to murder people too. Two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, maybe Vader's seen the error of his ways and realizes murder is wrong and is trying to make sure no one goes down the path he did.
Appeal to an authority is saying something is true because an authority in the subject being discussed said it was true. A faulty appeal to authority is when we appeal to someone who isn't actually an authority on the subject being discussed. For example, in this pandemic, everyone's turning to Doctor Fauci to tell us what we should do in this pandemic. No offense to Doctor Fauci, I'm sure he's a nice guy and good in his field of medicine, but he isn't an epidemiologist, a doctor who studies epidemics, and he hasn't practiced medicine in twenty years. Not everyone who has a doctorate of medicine is an authority on everything to do with medicine. I could ask a podiatrist on whether wearing face masks is likely to stop the spread of a virus, but I doubt the podiatrist would know much more than I do on the subject.
This is also what happens when movie stars' opinions on anything other than acting are appealed to, or when the topic is controversial and only one authority in the subject is appealed to. Just because one legitimate authority in the field believes something doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other legitimate authorities that have different opinions. This also applies to the example above.
This fallacy is when we claim we are right because a lot of people agree with us. As the Bluedorns say (see more on them at the end of the blogpost), "The general public is rarely a proper authority on any subject." This is also a common propaganda technique.
"You should buy this car. Everyone's buying it!"
"Everyone believes the Empire is a good form of government! You should too, my son."
Just because everyone believes it doesn't make it right.
This is when someone changes the argument or says their opponent is arguing something ridiculous to make it easier to refute the argument and then attacks that.
"I don't think building the Death Star is a good idea, Tarkin. It's a waste of money, and using it will turn the rebels against us."
"I can't believe you said that, Vader! The Empire must defend itself from brutal terrorist attacks. How can you say we shouldn't spend any money on defense?"
Attacking an irrelevant position does nothing to refute the actual argument being presented. Vader is entirely right that the Death Star is a waste of money and actually drives more people to the rebellion than it deters.
This is where people assume the character of the parts is also the character of the whole.
"Look, Padme, I made this cake from the best ingredients money could buy. It's got to be delicious!"
"You cooked it for so long the apartment caught on fire, Anakin. The cake is not delicious."
Just because something is true of the parts doesn't make it true of the whole.
Whole-to-Part
This is the opposite of the part-to-whole fallacy. This fallacy assumes that because something is true of the whole, it must be true of its parts.
"The Empire is responsible for the murder of millions, has enslaved trillions of sentients across the galaxy, and destroyed planets. Lieutenant Han Solo is a murderer, a slaver, and a planet-destroyer."
The whole is much more than the sum of its parts.
This fallacy sets up a false dilemma between two choices when really there are many more choices than just two. For example, the media seems to be portraying the whole face mask dilemma as this: Either you are a Democrat and believe the CDC and are wearing face masks, or you are a Republican that refuses to listen to common sense and are not wearing a face mask. People could be refusing to wear a face mask for any number of reasons. For instance, I don't want to wear a face mask because my moderate to severe seasonal allergies restrict my airways to the point where I can't breathe in a face mask. Some people don't want to wear a face mask because it's 90 freaking degrees outside, or it soon will be, and they will pass out if they wear a face mask in that kind of heat. Some people don't want to wear a face mask because they are going swimming, and a wet cloth plastered over the nose and mouth is a key component in waterboarding. Others don't want to wear a face mask because they just don't like being told what to do. In many cases, there are much more than two sides to an argument or dilemma and representing it as an either-or option is misleading or downright false.
Hasty generalizations are the reason I don't trust any polls that are reported in the media. A hasty generalization is generalizing about a class based on a small or poor sample. For instance, one poll on the previous presidential election that was reported as a national poll had a sample that consisted of 1,000 people from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, plus a handful of people from the suburbs and countryside of Oklahoma. Obviously, this is not a big enough sample size, and Oklahoma city dwellers are a very poor sample for the entire nation. In addition, many phone political polls hang up on anybody that answers "Yes" to the question "Are you affiliated with any political campaign, either now or in the past?" when, if you wanted a proper sample of voters, the people affiliated with political campaigns are the ones most likely to vote. Unfortunately, this type of polling is very common, which is the reason I don't trust polls.
Or, in English, "After this, therefore because of this." This assumes that because A happened before B, A must be the cause of B.
"Anakin Skywalker slept shirtless, and not long after, he turned to the Dark Side. I think it's clear I need to go to Tatooine to make sure Luke never sleeps shirtless and turns to the Dark Side."
"Pretty sure, I am, that the cause of his turn, that is not."
This is akin to "Correlations do not equal causations." For instance, suicide rates rise when toothbrush sales plummet. Obviously, people are killing themselves because they have bad teeth.
And here we begin the manipulative propaganda techniques.
"Every other prosthetic hand causes your nerves to die and your arm to rot. Buy CorusMedicine's prosthetic hands today!"
"Leia, I want my prosthetic hand to be CorusMedicine. I don't want my nerves to die and my arm to rot off."
This is all the commercials that try to scare you into buying their product or voting for their candidate. Don't fall for it.
*Sad music begins* "Many animals are left out in the cold every year." *shows videos of dogs shivering in the cold* "A small monthly donation of $19.95 to ASPCA can save these poor animals from a lifetime of misery."
This is when commercials or what have you try to guilt you into doing what they want. Just because you feel bad doesn't mean the argument is sound. If you have enough money to film all those miserable dogs, why don't you use that money to help them?
"Only three left in stock. Buy today!"
This is when we are told we must go along with their argument because we don't have the time to do otherwise.
"Head on. Apply directly to the forehead. Head on. Apply directly to the forehead. Head on. Apply directly to the forehead."
This form of propaganda simply repeats something until people accept it as true.
Snob Appeal
"The few, the proud, the Marines."
This is when someone tries to convince you that you should do something because no one else is doing it.
"Come on, Luke, only two people in the entire galaxy are Sith Lords! You should become one too! Then you'll be one of only three people that are allowed to learn the Sith teachings."
Just because no one else does it isn't a reason for you to. Maybe there's a good reason no one else is a Sith Lord.
Don't fall for logical fallacies. Just because an argument sounds good doesn't mean it's a good argument.
Many thanks to Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn, whose book The Fallacy Detective taught me about many of these fallacies and encouraged me to think logically about the world around me.
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