Critical Thinking and our Inclination
Toward Faulty Logic
Arendt
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
You have the right to question what you
see, hear, and read.
 Many pieces are not written/presented to
offer information clearly and directly;
instead their goal is to persuade you to
take a particular action, accept a
particular viewpoint, or to argue for one
side of a controversial issue.
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Armstrong Williams – CNN/CNBC $241,000 to promote No Child Left Behind
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/articles/A57881-2005Jan7.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/articles/A56330-2005Jan7.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/articles/A57268-2005Jan7.html
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Subjective content is any material that
involves judgment, feeling, opinion,
intuition, or emotion rather than factual
information.
 Evaluating subjective content involves
distinguishing between facts & opinions,
identifying generalizations, evaluating
viewpoints, understanding theories and
hypotheses, weighing data and evidence,
and being alert to bias.
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Subjective content examples
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Edwards unveils plan to control drug advertising
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN284
39707
Caffeinated schnapps
http://wideeye.com/
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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A generalization is a statement made
about a large group or class of items
based on observation or experience with a
portion of that group or class
I loved that song, therefore the band must
be great
 That student cheated, therefore I’d better
do something to stop all my students from
cheating
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Bias is when a statement reflects a
partiality, preference, or prejudice for or
against a person, object, or idea. Much of
what you read and hear expresses a bias.
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Bandwagon (groupthink)
Confirmation bias / selective perception
(preconceptions)
Focusing effect (too much focus on one thing)
Loss aversion
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Slanting is when a writer or speaker uses
a selection of facts, choice of words, and
the quality and tone of description, to
convey a particular feeling or attitude. Its
purpose is to convey a certain attitude or
point of view toward the subject without
expressing it explicitly.
 Ask yourself: What facts were omitted?
What impression would I have if different
words had been used?
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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What are Propaganda Techniques?
They are the methods
and approaches used
to spread ideas that
further a cause - a
political, commercial,
religious, or civil
cause.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Why are they
used? To
manipulate the
readers' or viewers'
reason and
emotions; to
persuade you to
believe in something
or someone, buy an
item, or vote a
certain way.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Name calling (labeling): Attaching a
negative label to a person or a thing.
People engage in this type of behavior
when they are trying to avoid supporting
their own opinion with facts. Rather than
explain what they believe in, they prefer
to try to tear their opponent down.
 Consider: commie, yuppie, bum, queer,
terrorist, fascist
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
"Bad names have played a tremendously powerful
role in the history of the world and in our own
individual development. They have ruined
reputations, stirred men and women to
outstanding accomplishments, sent others to
prison cells, and made men mad enough to enter
battle and slaughter their fellowmen. They have
been and are applied to other people, groups,
gangs, tribes, colleges, political parties,
neighborhoods, states, sections of the country,
nations, and races." (Institute for Propaganda
Analysis, 1938)
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Glittering Generalities: This technique
uses important-sounding "glad words"
that have little or no real meaning. These
words are used in general statements that
cannot be proved or disproved. Words like
"good," "honest," "fair," and "best" are
examples of "glad" words.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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"We believe in, fight for, live by virtue words
about which we have deep-set ideas. Such words
include civilization, Christianity, good,
proper, right, democracy, patriotism,
motherhood, fatherhood, science, medicine,
health, and love.
For our purposes in propaganda analysis, we call
these virtue words "Glittering Generalities" in
order to focus attention upon this dangerous
characteristic that they have: They mean
different things to different people; they can be
used in different ways. (Institute for Propaganda
Analysis, 1938)
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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While Name Calling seeks to make us form
a judgment to reject and condemn without
examining the evidence, the Glittering
Generality device seeks to make us
approve and accept without examining the
evidence.
(Institute for Propaganda Analysis, 1938)
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Transfer: In this
technique, an
attempt is made to
transfer the prestige
of a positive symbol
to a person or an
idea. For example,
using the American
flag as a backdrop
for a political event
makes the
implication that the
event is patriotic in
the best interest of
the U.S.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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False or Weak Analogy: In this
technique, two things that may or may
not really be similar are portrayed as
being similar. When examining the
comparison, you must ask yourself how
similar the items are. In most false
analogies, there is simply not enough
evidence available to support the
comparison.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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WASHINGTON (AP)--The only exterminator in Congress told his
colleagues Wednesday that it would be a short-sighted move to
ban use of chlordane and related termiticides that cause cancer in
laboratory animals.
Supporters of the bill, however, claimed that the Environmental
Protection Agency was "dragging its feet" on a chemical that
could cause 300,000 cancers in the American population in 70
years.
"This bill reminds me of legislation that ought to be
introduced to outlaw automobiles" on the grounds that
cars kill people, said Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who owns an
exterminating business.
EPA banned use of the chemicals on crops in 1974, but permitted
use against termites because the agency did not believe humans
were exposed. Chlordane does not kill termites but rather drives
them away.
Source: Associated Press, June 25th, 1987
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Testimonial: This technique is easy to
understand. It is when "big name"
personalities are used to endorse a
product.
Whenever you see
someone famous
endorsing a product, ask
yourself how much that
person knows about the
product, and what he or
she stands to gain by
promoting it.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Tiger Woods to have his own drink
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Gatorade deal estimated to pay superstar golfer
as much as $100 million
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21327726/
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/sportsen
t/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10036592
30
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Plain Folks: This
technique uses a
folksy approach to
convince us to
support someone
or something.
These ads depict
people with
ordinary looks
doing ordinary
activities.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Card Stacking: This term comes from
stacking a deck of cards in your favor.
Card stacking is used to slant a message.
Key words or unfavorable statistics may
be omitted in an ad or commercial,
leading to a series of half-truths.
 Keep in mind that an advertiser is under
no obligation "to give the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth."
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Bandwagon: The "bandwagon" approach
encourages you to think that because
everyone else is doing something, you
should do it too, or you'll be left out. The
technique embodies a "keeping up with
the Joneses"
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Either/or fallacy: This technique is also
called "black-and-white thinking" because
only two choices are given. You are either
for something or against it; there is no
middle ground or shades of gray. It is
used to polarize issues, and negates all
attempts to find a common ground.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Faulty Cause and Effect: This technique
suggests that because B follows A, A must
cause B.
 Remember, just because two events or
two sets of data are related does not
necessarily mean that one caused the
other to happen (correlation versus
causation)
 It is important to evaluate data carefully
before jumping to a wrong conclusion.
 Example: Low school attendance & crime
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant
topic is presented in order to divert attention
from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win"
an argument by leading attention away from the
argument and to another topic. This sort of
"reasoning" has the following form:
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Topic A is
Topic B is
to topic A
A).
Topic A is
under discussion.
introduced under the guise of being relevant
(when topic B is actually not relevant to topic
abandoned.
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Fallacies of Distraction
 False Dilemma: two choices are given
when in fact there are three options
 From Ignorance: because something is not
known to be true, it is assumed to be false
 Complex Question: two unrelated points
are conjoined as a single proposition
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Appeals to Motives in Place of Support
 Consequences: the reader is warned of
unacceptable consequences
 Prejudicial Language: value or moral
goodness is attached to believing the
author
 Popularity: a proposition is argued to be
true because it is widely held to be true
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Changing the Subject
 Attacking the Person
 Appeal to Authority
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Anonymous Authority: the authority in
question is not named
Style Over Substance: the manner in
which an argument (or arguer) is
presented is felt to affect the truth of the
conclusion
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Inductive Fallacies in Research
 Hasty Generalization: the sample is too
small to support an inductive
generalization about a population
 Unrepresentative Sample: the sample is
unrepresentative of the sample as a whole
 Fallacy of Exclusion: evidence which would
change the outcome of an inductive
argument is excluded from consideration
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Causal Fallacies
Post Hoc: because one thing follows another, it is
held to cause the other
Joint effect: one thing is held to cause another
when in fact they are both the joint effects of an
underlying cause (ex: bad in class/tired/abused)
Insignificant: one thing is held to cause another,
and it does, but it is insignificant compared to
other causes of the effect (buying cd makes you
broke but far more is spent on something else)
Wrong Direction: the direction between cause
and effect is reversed (ex: drinking and marital
problems)
Complex Cause: the cause identified is only a
part of the entire cause of the effect
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
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Missing the Point
Begging the Question: the truth of the conclusion
is assumed by the premises (if A is true and B is
true then C must be true)
Irrelevant Conclusion: an argument in defense of
one conclusion instead proves a different
conclusion
Straw Man: the author attacks an argument
different from (and weaker than) the opposition's
best argument
Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Category Errors
 Composition: because the attributes of the
parts of a whole have a certain property,
it is argued that the whole has that
property
 Division: because the whole has a certain
property, it is argued that the parts have
that property (Utah has young population,
therefore St. George has a young
population)
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Critical Thinking & our inclination toward Faulty Logic
Absurdisms (Non Sequitur)
 Affirming the Consequent: any argument
of the form: If A then B, B, therefore A
 Denying the Antecedent: any argument of
the form: If A then B, Not A, thus Not B
 Inconsistency: asserting that contrary or
contradictory statements are both true
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