This is our tendency to seek out or notice information that supports our pre-existing ideas, rather than to look for unbiased information that draw us nearer to the truth. One of the most prevalent types of biases is the confirmation bias. So you can reduce your biases by becoming more acquainted with fallacies and their illegitimate claims to reason. It is a distorted interpretation of facts, and you need bad arguments to support such views. Biases are upheld either through pure ignorance or through fallacies. Some biases even have the word ‘fallacy’ in their names, such as the gambler’s fallacy.Ī bias is a prejudice or a preconceived notion. The concept of fallacies is closely tied to the concept of biases. So when we call someone out for using an ad hominem argument, they might think, “If what she is pointing out to me has a technical name – ad hominem – perhaps she really is onto something?” More Biases & Fallacies Another handy attribute of fallacies is that in talking about them we can use terminology that has the authority of logic! It may carry more weight if I tell you that you’re using an ad hominem argument against me, than if I simply say that I think it’s a bad way of arguing to attack my character instead of my argument. So when we are acquainted with fallacies we become more persuasive debaters. Categorizing and naming bad arguments helps to systematize our thoughts so that we can quickly point out what exactly is wrong with an argument. Furthermore we become better at analyzing the arguments of others when we know about what types of bad arguments there are. As they say at addiction clinics, the first step toward being cured is to acknowledge that you have a problem. This way we’re reminded of our own irrational shortcomings and we can better keep them in check. But in fact, it is just because we are so prone to irrational thinking that it is very useful to be acquainted with even the most apparently trivial types of fallacies. Or how many of us have not committed the argument from emotion fallacy for instance, when we unjustly blame each other because we’re upset? It would have been better if we had calmed ourselves down before trying to talk things through. Of course it is not right to assume that one rude tourist represents an entire nation’s attitude shouldn’t we know that? Weshould, but we often don’t: in practice people often fall victim to the hasty generalization fallacy. Many fallacious arguments might seem trivial at first glance. Nonetheless, ad hominem arguments are widely used in all kinds of situations – for instance in political campaigns, where disproportionate, irrelevant or downright dishonest personal attacks are often used to overshadow an opponent’s actual arguments. This is a bad way of arguing because what is usually important is not the messenger but the message. For instance, an ad hominem (Latin for ‘to the man’) is a type of fallacy where you counteract the force of someone’s argument by attacking their character instead of their argument. These now go by widely-recognized and sometimes colourful names. To counteract these psychological tendencies, we need to make better use of the thinking tools that have been developed since Aristotle’s invention of logic.Ī particular step forward has been the identification and labelling of various different types of bad argument, collectively known as informal fallacies. However, in the last hundred years, cognitive science has made it increasingly evident that we largely see the world through biases, and do not reliably think either rationally or objectively when left to our own devices, including in our economic choices. Classical economic theory, for instance, is based on the assumption that we tend to make rational decisions. It didn’t used to be thought that we require tools for thinking better. Whenever a useful new word is invented, a new thinking tool is made available. Language, for instance, is a thinking tool, because it enables us to think better, through internal dialogue and by the sharing of ideas with others. In the same way that there are tools for building, there are what philosopher Daniel Dennett calls ‘thinking tools’. In fact, by the time you finish reading this article you will have become smarter, because you will see the flaws in your own and others’ arguments more clearly. Have you ever heard of the Straw Man fallacy, or the Red Herring fallacy? If not, perhaps you will be interested to know that these form parts of a set of concepts that have the potential to enhance your thinking power. SUBSCRIBE NOW Articles Bad Arguments That Make You Smarter Henrik Schoeneberg gets smart about fallacious reasoning.
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