Many social posts, and memes especially, contain logical fallacies. But if you mention a logical fallacy, most people don’t know what you are talking about. This is how fundamentally depraved our collective knowledge base is.
A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning. Studying logical fallacies is important for making sense and staying close to reality. When we ignore reason, and commit logical fallacies, we end up in the badlands. And we all know that ain’t a fun place to be!
Logical coherency keeps our epistemology—how we know what we know—in order. If you don’t know your logical fallacies, you are likely farther from the truth than someone who does.
During crisis, a lot of debate has erupted on social media posts—people squabbling and squawking to assert what they believe is more likely true. Debate relies upon reason and thinking accurately. But if you don’t know your logical fallacies, you’re handicapped, and likely don’t even know it.
Most want to be heard and gain likes, and avoid being wrong at all costs, rather than be honest and genuinely learn. Ergo, not many will want to learn about fallacies because they are emotionally attached to their beliefs. But some with emotional mettle will put integrity above ego and their fear of change and learn what flies in the face of their worldview. A mild or major healing crisis may ensue.
I attribute a lot of my learning to debating with others who know more than I do. Nowadays I know my strengths and weaknesses so I usually don’t even debate with someone I want to learn from; I just ask questions, listen, and integrate. If i challenge, it will be to keep them i check and to reveal my ignorance, so I can learn.
Logic helps guide us to truth and to keep us honest. Philosophy through the ages has governed the domain of logic and reason.
One of the most valuable guideposts for determining what’s more likely true is to avoid logical fallacies. I therefore brush up on logical fallacies regularly. I find it fun, exciting, and enriching. Here are a few examples of the most common logical fallacies:
Black or White Thinking: This is sometimes also called “all or nothing thinking.” Black or white thinking considers only two extremes as true, when in fact many other choices exist, and the reality is a shade of grey. For example, consider the meme, “You are either part of the solution or you’re not.” This is like saying people are either all good or all bad; it’s just not accurate. Most of us fall somewhere along the spectrum of being helpful in some ways and unhelpful in others. This fallacy is perhaps the most common and frustrating fallacy I see nowadays, perhaps because fear during the pandemic has triggered so much fight or flight, which is a polarized stance.
Red Herring: A red herring is a stinky fish that distracts one’s attention. Red herring fallacies distract from the main point with seemingly valid arguments, except that they are often used to derail the conversation into tangents. For example, when pointing out the faults of our ex-president Don Trump, many who support him will point to the faults of Obama or Hilary Clinton. They may indeed have faults but let’s discuss those after the matter at hand: the faults of 45. It’s common to commit a red herring fallacy when blamed for something and not wanting to take responsibility; one criticizes the one who is upset or pointing a fault instead of acknowledging the original point. Mentioning the faults of others when the discussion began making a different point is a red herring fallacy.
Straw Man Fallacy: A straw man is a kind effigy or false representation. A straw man argument is a mischaracterization that attributes a false assertion to you, or uses the weakest part of your assertion to disqualify all of what you say.For example, say you advocate for the Covid vaccines. Then someone who opposes the vaccines argues that because all vaccines ever distributed have not been safe, the current vaccines can’t be trusted. The straw man is the mischaracterization that you are advocating for every vaccine that ever existed, when that is not the case. This straw man attacks the weakest point of your argument, which isn’t even a position that you represent: that all vaccines are safe. It’s also a form of red herring fallacy because the alleged debunker is distracting from the established safety record of the current vaccines. Another one: say I admit that natural remedies are not always helpful or best for every medical situation. Then someone says, well how can you practice natural medicine if you distrust the use of natural remedies? They have just mischaracterized my representation of natural medicine by making a global conclusion based on my mention that there are some instances when Western medicine is better than natural care. The straw man is attributing me with representing that natural medicine is never as good as, or even better, than Western care
If you want to get closer to the truth and appreciate nuance, be able to sort through a lot of the arguments on social media and make solid arguments, and better take care of yourself, then learn your logical fallacies. Then practice not committing them and spotting them in others’ discourse. Remember that what we believe often dictates how we act. So, if our beliefs are based in logical fallacies, we are more than likely going to act in ways that injure ourselves and others.
Here’s a great comprehensive list of logical fallacies: https://iep.utm.edu/a/
Related Reading:
The Healing of America: How to Determine What’s Most Likely True
