A helpful list of logical fallacies

brewvarlet@beehaw.org to Socialism@beehaw.org – 9 points –

A helpful resource I've been referencing for a while now. Thought this community might be able to put some of this knowledge to use when debating others on the merits of socialism (friendly debates of course 😉)

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I don't really like the explanation for Tu Quoque. Tu Quoque is an appeal to hypocrisy. For instance you want me to believe in climate change, but you drive a car or Al Gore flies private jets.

Whether or not something is true doesn't require the person telling you about it to have a lifestyle that's perfectly aligned with that information. You can be a hypocrite and correct. I would prefer to be a correct hypocrite than an incorrect non-hypocrite. At least the hypocrite knows there's something that needs to be done.

I also prefer false choice or false dichotomy over black and white for that one, but that's just me being picky. Black and white is just as good a descriptor for it. I do really like the infographic. It's nice to have them all in one place.

I like your description of tu quoque better. I admit some of the examples on the graphic are a bit silly.

Most of them are fine. I'm just particular about Tu Quoque. I bring that one out alot since arguing with climate deniers is a bobby of mine. They love to appeal to hypocrisy.

After more than a decade on Reddit, I find that understanding the Fallacy Fallacy is hugely important.

People on the Internet will jump onto any slight lapse in logic to ignore an argument they don't like. Even more commonly IMO, someone will apply a surface level understanding of some "fallacy" to dismiss you even if the fallacy doesn't actually apply when you look closer

This is excellent, thank you. I especially like that it includes the "Fallacy fallacy" as some people tend to dismiss everything the moment their opponent makes a mistake.

Another graphic that is similar to this one is the Cognitive Bias Codex by Visual Capitalist, since logical fallacies have their roots in cognitive bias. I like to pair these graphics together whenever I share them with people.

Looks like it may have uploaded in a low resolution. Anyone know if there is a size limit for images?

I can see it just fine on my end. Is it actually bigger than the ~3000x2000 image I'm seeing right now?

It might just be on my end. If you can read the small print then we're good! The original can be found at yourlogicalfallacyis.com if anyone needs it.

Ad hominem is, I think, the most prevalent and harmful fallacy on the whole internet and society at large. In fact, not to make everything about the Reddit situation, but we saw u/spez recently employ it by evading questions and trying to impugn developers.

And of course, in the political space, we see it all the time to try and dismiss any pro-worker arguments. In the United States, labeling someone as a socialist has been used as a Q.E.D. in itself for decades. I hope that's changing.