fallacy A false or misleading statement or argument involving ambiguity, erroneous
presumption, or irrelevance—a false or mistaken short-cut to a well-reasoned argument.
See B&B, Ch 9, 368-381. A) Define, B) Example(s), C) How to recognize (signals, cues).
Mon, Feb 10th
Groupthink
date
fallacy
Wed, Feb 19th
Many Questions
(instructor demo)
presenter
Ambiguity
Death by a Thousand Qualifications
Oversimplification
False Dichotomy
Hasty Generalization
Equivocation
Composition (as a fallacy term)
Division (as a fallacy term)
Wed, Feb 26th
Poisoning the Well
Ad Hominem, to the man
Note: 2 presenters
The Genetic Fallacy
Wed, Mar 5th
Appeal to Authority
The Slippery Slope
Appeal to Ignorance
Wed, Mar 12th
Begging the Question
False Analogy
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
after this, therefore because of this
Protecting the Hypothesis
Note: 2 presenters
Fallacy wrap-up: How to detect fallacy, how to avoid erroneous thinking (instructor)
group·think n.
The act or practice of reasoning or decision-making by a group, especially when characterized by
uncritical acceptance or conformity to prevailing points of view.
n : decision making by a group (especially in a manner that discourages creativity or individual
responsibility)
—dictionary.com
Expanded definition:
A person commits the groupthink fallacy if he or she substitutes pride of membership in the
group for reasons to support the group's policy. “If that's what our group thinks, then that's good
enough for me. It's what I think, too.” Blind patriotism is another version of this fallacy.
Example:
We K-Mart employees know that K-Mart brand items are better than Wall-Mart brand items
because, well, they are from K-Mart, aren't they?
—Internet encyclopedia of philosophy
Other examples:
“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”
Bay of Pigs invasion (from Groupthink by I. L. Janis—who coined the phrase)
And what about peer group social situations?
How to recognize groupthink:
Social influences normally shape our practices, judgments, and beliefs. A child speaks his
parents’ language; a member of a tribe in Papua submits to extensive scarification of the back as
altogether fitting and proper. Conformity to the group is the way of the world. But good minds
working together are not likely to outperform individuals when the group suppresses productive
conflict, balanced debate, and careful reasoning. When the compunction to conform to the group
goes against the reality principle, away from truth and toward error, purely on the basis of what
the group thinks, the phenomenon is called groupthink.
Groupthink doesn’t work because it is an error in thinking that leads away from reality toward a
fake view of issues. Groupthink can lead to disaster, like the Bay of Pigs invasion and the mass
suicides at Jonestown and in the Bo and Peep cult of Heaven’s Gate.
Social psychologists have identified the multiple ways that groupthink occurs. Usually, the
members agree prematurely on the wrong solution. Then they give each other feedback that
makes the group as a whole feel certain that it is right, making the right choice. Members
discourage each other from looking at the flaws in their thought processes and usually abrogate
decision making to a strong leader. As usual, reality comes crashing in and teaches the group the
lesson they needed to learn: When our opinions depend on the opinion of others and not on our
own considered judgment, chances are that we will be proved wrong
—Bernard M. Patten, Truth, Knowledge, or Just Plain Bullshit:
How to Tell the Difference