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What are fallacies and how should they be approached?


Imagine having a conversation with someone where you looked up all the facts and thought for a long time why a course of actions should be taken.  Then imagine explaining the decision you made to someone else and they reply that you shouldn’t do it. You ask why and at first their answer seems to make sense.  When you get home afterwards you start to think on the conversation and realize that something isn’t right. You run through what the other person had said and that off something they said turned out to be a fallacy.

Here are some fallacies and examples that are common that will make a greater point of what they are.

The Ambiguity fallacy is where a phrase or word that can mean multiple things is used to give the speaker either multiple choices for what they mean or allows them to be misleading but not incorrect.  So, if I was to say, “I am giving everyone in this crowd a car tonight” on my live T.V. show. Not specifying that I meant a Hot Wheels model car could lead to people being misled that real cars would be handed out.

I have many cats and birds at my house, but I get sad trying to keep up after them. Although, I know that puppies can make people happy so I should get some of them. If you have heard something like this before than it may be a fallacy appealing to emotion. Which is where the argument being made is not on fact but towards the emotions of the listener to appeal to them.

The Straw Man fallacy is where an argument is made against another side, yet the opposing side is made to appear weaker by having portions left out or faulty logic presented. As someone who watches politics I have seen people use this fallacy. For example, “I am putting this bill onto the floor for Americans to better create roads. I have shown that these roads will benefit companies as well, however my opponents say that the roads won’t bring jobs. As you know the building of roads themselves are jobs and more companies can open up on the roads so they have a bad argument.” What might not be present is that the roads are currently fine and the opponents would say that the road commission already has enough people to build the roads.

The Black or White fallacy is where an argument is made so that only two choices appear to exist while many could exist. I know that you might not like Tacos so I tell you that there is only McDonalds and Taco Bell for the restaurants in our town. Yet, if there are more than just those two restaurants then I would be guilty of using a black and white fallacy.



Understanding and developing ways for us to recognize and deal with these fallacies is important for making correct decisions. In addition, having this understanding will allow us to increase the amount of correct decisions that lead to what an individual would want. While the answers from them can work out, the lack of understanding misrepresents the choice we made. These correct choices are important for individuals because it allows them to follow what they want with a greater efficiency.

There is one thing that I would like to mention about fallacies and with their use. Although I feel that overall view of using fallacies is bad, there can still be a positive application for them. I know that the world is not a perfect place and people will not be emotionally intelligent enough to sit and collaborate with others on what views make logical sense. I also know that some people will get tempered in their arguments and that these arguments can have a short time to answer with significant results.  As such, I feel that when having a discussion with these people, I would not limit myself from using the fallacy that they use to show them their flaws in logic. However, I am not saying to use those fallacies from the beginning of a speech or argument to win over people. I just feel that a logically thinking person who has thought on the issue can use what their opponent uses against them for their logical points to take precedent.

In short, understanding fallacies can help an individual plan out their choices towards what they want out of life. This understanding can be used to stop others from steering decisions into negative results or gives and understanding for what cause and effect really were. When used with the lessons from the past and having a high emotional intelligence, people can development themselves into better situations.
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