This dude represents Black or White, False Dichotomy, Either Or, All or Nothing, Binary Thinking. Class: Distort > Exaggerate Oversimplifying a problem to yes/no or either/or, when really it is more complicated.

What’s a Fallacy?

Fallacies are types of bad reasoning in arguments to fool you, so we call them Foolacies. Flawed logic , Misrepresenting, Avoiding the issue. People often cheat in arguments. Politicians and pundits try to manipulate voters. Sellers use misleading ads and packaging. Even friends, family, and loved ones use unfair arguments, even if it is unintentional. And you probably do too.

Foolacies are False, right?

Not always, and not all false statements are foolacies. A statement could be false because of a misunderstanding or lying, which are not foolacies. Also a foolacy is not just any argument you disagree with.

Even if you use bad reasoning you still might have a true conclusion. For example, if I say, “Vegetables are healthy because everyone says so,” it’s true that vegetables are healthy, and it’s true that everyone says so, but it’s bad reasoning to say they’re healthy because everyone says so.

Even something crazy sounding is not necessarily a foolacy. For example, if I say, “You should wear a tinfoil hat to block mind-control waves,” that may sound crazy. But if there really were mind-control waves, tinfoil might in fact be a good shield, so the reasoning is okay even if it’s based on a false assumption.

Identifying foolacies is a great exercise for critical thinking skills. People usually just argue at each other, complaining but failing to persuade. To actually change someone’s mind, you must:

• Stay calm. People cannot reason or be open-minded when they are angry. • Avoid foolacies. • Distinguish facts from feelings and speculations. • Act like a judge not a lawyer. A judge looks at both sides of the issue and analyzes the pros and cons. A lawyer argues only one side of issue as “us versus them”. • Be a diplomat not a warrior. A diplomat is open to agreement, while a warrior actually wants conflict. If a warrior wins a war, they’ll just start another one.

There is a list of all Foolacies, you can check them by googling Foolacy.com (if you afraid of links)

1344 x 1008‬ px // digitally hand drawn Description and all info by David Hundsness