Hi Everyone--This will be your last quiz--Don't start weeping, I can email you more quizes over the Christmas break if you really miss them...I am a generous, generous soul...This quiz will be about fallacies, something we didn't have time to cover in our luxurious, spa-like, glamorous classroom, but a fun area you can explore more in argumentation (COMS 311).
Fallacies are flaws in the type of reasoning people sometimes use in rhetoric (trying to persuade another person). For instance, one way to "reason" with your audience during a speech is to use cause/effect: ie: carbon emmissions weaken the ozone, which then causes global warming. A valid line of reasoning...but the fallacy know as FAULTY causality might lead a speaker to say: Cheese has been eaten in nearly every warm country, so cheese must cause global warming. (Although cheese HAS truly caused me to buy larger jeans....) Get it?
Another fallacy in called "ad hominem" or "to the man" as in one of my fave films, School of Rock: "Now that, children, is how you stick it to the man"--Jack Black. In the ad-hominem fallacy, a speaker attacks a person INSTEAD of the real issue, ie: (what does ie. stand for anways????) ie: If Al Gore lost an election, why should we listen to HIM talk about global warming? See how ethos (credibility) distracts from the real issue?
Next is the "bandwagon fallacy" or "everybody's doing it"--fashion trends are a great way to remember this fallacy! People will spend a rediculous amount of money (except for your wise, wise teacher who buys them at thrift stores) on jeans, so have the current "it" brand--so when a speaker "reasons" with the audience buy saying: 79% of Americans believe in global warming, so you should too! --this is an example of the bandwagon fallacy in action. This fallacy was alive and well in the EVIL RHETORIC of Seventeen Magazine circa 1979 when lil' Sandra tried to use a REAL iron on hopelessly frizzy hair in order to fit in at Golden West Elementary School and escape her nickname: Mop-head. So sad
So, for your 15 point quiz, provide 3 short examples of people in your life that try to trick you with these fallacies, either celebrities, politicians, parents, friends, teachers, fashion industry, media, whatever...Although there are many more FUN fallacies to explore, for this quiz, the 3 fallacies again are: ad hominem, band wagon and faulty causation. Questions are welcome, and here is a site with more info: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/
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43 comments:
Can we watch fine films including those available on MySpace by Aaron and Raveen and identify fallacies in those?
--Pandrasay
Why yes U can, real student!
--Sandra
Who on EARTH is up and posting at 5:07 a.m., Oh Great Pandrasay (aka real student) and Sandra (aka real teacher)?! Could it be that both are up early withn 1-year old daughters? Ah-ha...
Arymay Ingkay
so we are taking this quiz in class?
Aida
No, post your response here on the blog--what a brilliant brilliant persuasive question, it makes me want to donate blood IMMEDIATELY!!!! Wink--S
Quiz
Faulty Causality
1. Either Trim Spa or Zenadrine are successful long term weight loss pills.
2. Trim Spa is not a successful long term weight loss pills.
3. Therefore Zenzdrine is a successful pill.
"Ad Hominem"
1. Kanye West said George Bush doesn't like Black people.
2. George Bush denies the accusation and addresses Kanye West's accusation publicly.
3. It was found Kanye West's claim was false and George Bush is not prejudice against Black people.
Bandwagon Fallacy
1. My brother told me to buy him a size large sweater because that's the size he always buys.
2. My mother told him that he should get an extra large because all of his sweaters fit way too small.
3. After hearing that, my brother said maybe your right just go ahead and get me an extra large instead. Karyn Qualls
Hi K--Great work--May I add, that in order to make the Bush example an ad hominem fallacy, you would say: If George Bush was once a partying frat boy, how could he possibly run our country well? (It attacks the persons' character rather than their actions)--S
Band Wagon Fallacy
Co-Worker: “I am so stressed, don’t you ever need a break from your children?”
Carla: “No. I don’t feel that way. It’s not the child’s fault.”
Co-Worker: “Me neither, my friend always tell me how SHE needs a break.
Faulty Casuality
Hurricane Katrina is God's way of disapproving of the conditions in New Orleans.
Ad Hominem
If Vivica A. Fox is an alcoholic, how is it possible for her to be an activist for anti-drinking campaign?
Carla Quintella
Faulty Casuality
my dog has long hair
my moms dog has long hair
my moms dog and my dog are the same
ad hominem
my boss says we can not talk on the phone at work.
he calls his wife on his cell phone and work phone at work.
if he talks on the phone why should we listen to him.
bandwagon fallacy
britany spears has a short skirt
j Lo has a short skirt
therefore short skirts are popular
-victoria davis
Faulty causality?
CDs are over-priced and usually only have one good song on them anyway…
Therefore it’s our right to download music from a peer-to-peer sharing network… for free!
Ad-hominem
John Kerry came back from Vietnam and spoke out about the government’s mismanagement of the war…
Therefore, John Kerry does not support troops, and could not be an effective president.
Bandwagon
I saw Nelly on Jimmy Kimmel awhile back and he was talking about his line of jeans, “Apple Bottom.” Jimmy asked him why the name, and he said, “Because I like an apple bottom.”
“So if girls are wearing Apple Bottoms, that’s what I like”
Therefore, if you ladies aren’t wearing Apple Bottoms… Nelly does not approve of, like, endorse, respect or particularly enjoy - your booty.
-james-
as if you didn't already know
Saturday
James,
I really enjoyed reading your examples. Very good!!! Especially the example regarding Nelly :)
Carla
ad hominem:
A local politician said, "Homeless people are destroying Downtown Sacramento."
When in actuality, the lack of education programs, affordable housing, and (well-paying) entry level careers are "ruining" the city.
__________________________
band wagon:
The Red Sox won the World Series.
Therefore every "hipster" will buy a Redsox hat.
_________________
faulty causation:
Gay people like San Francisco.
Bob likes San Francisco.
Therefore Bob must be gay.
_______________________
Sal Lopez
Well thank you Carla!
When I read yours about Katrina, I literally slapped myself on the forehead! How perfect, what a great example!
and is that stuff about Vivica true?!
-j-
Faulty Causation
There is a Curves for Women gym everywhere in the United States, so every lady in the United States should be skinny.
Ad Homiem
I eat everything I want to eat especially junk food and I work out at the gym, so why am I still fat?
Bandwagon Fallacy
Angelina Jolie gets botocks injected in her lips and her lips are so nice and big. I need to get botocks injected in my lips so that they could look like hers.
Marian Capulong
James,
Regarding Vivica I just put a spin on her chronic DUI's :) So, the anti-drinking campaign was untrue. I should have said:
Vivica A. Fox has a drinking problem. How is it possible for her to make millions of dollars as an actress?
Carla
Bill clinton cheated on his wife, so he must have been a horrible leader of our country.
lindsay lohan and other young celebrities drank and partied underage and tons of people still look up to them, so its okay for me to do the same.
my dog has curly brown hair and my mom has curly brown hair, so my dog and my mom must have the same haircare routine.
----Colleen O'Neill
FALLACIES!
Faulty Causality -
Al Gore ran for presidency, Al Gore lost, so therefore he's not a credible leader and we can't believe anything he says about global warming.
Ad Hominem -
I can't see why anyone would ever support proposition Q&R. The Maloofs are greedy Las Vegas partiers, completely unqualified for increasing our taxes and building a new arena.
(I think I used this one in a debate. =) Oops)
Bandwagon -
4 out 5 dentists recomment Colgate, so buy it, it must be amazing!
(Who are these dentists, and do you know how many dentists there are in the world?! )
P.S. !!!!!
I took COMMS 311 Argumentation and Debate a few semesters ago and it is a lot of fun. I think everyone should take it! Don't we all like to argue, I know I do.
ALLI MOSER
Ad hominem
“She wore the ugliest suit! Her judgement is way off. She'll never be an effective government or military leader.”
“He can truly represent all Americans because he’s African American.”
“He’s too old to understand modern issues.”
Bandwagon Fallacy
Child (to parents): My teacher wants parents to volunteer to help the class in computer lab on Mondays.
Dad: I might be able to do that. What time?
Child: Well, I’ve never seen a dad volunteer in our class before. The kids might think it’s strange. I don’t know if dads are even allowed.
Faulty Reasoning
My boss is yelling at me. I must have done something wrong.
Mary B.
Saturday
Sandra - I emailed mine to you last Saturday, is that okay?
Mary King
Fallacy quiz-
Ad Hominem-
1)My doctor smokes, so why should I listen to him when he tells me not to smoke?
2) My doctor is giving me advice as his patient, what he does does not change the fact that smoking is bad for me
Band Wagon-
The car commercial says "more and more people are buying BMW's, isn't it time you visited your BMW dealer?"
2) Just because everyone has a BMW doesn't mean I need or want one
Faulty Causation-
1) If a defense attorney says "my client robbed Jane Doe because he grew up without a positive male figure in his life."
2) While I'm sure that made for a hard life for the defendant, it is certainly no excuse or cause for robbery.
Jessica Blocker
FAULTY causality
- ex. If the dogs came in the house one weekend and a roommate noticed a spot on the rug they did not cause and said the dogs could never come in the house again because they dirty the rug.
Ad-hominem fallacy
- Ex. A doctor not listening to an RN about medical concerns of a patient, saying that they are just a nurse and didn't go to medical school.
bandwagon fallacy-
ex. A lot of this going on around the holidays. "Everyone wants the new....iPhone, etc., etc., etc." Everyone wants the latest & greatest holiday gift. "Don't be left in the cold."
Kelli R.
Quiz
Faulty Causality
1. All Asian people are smart.
2. They either become a doctor or engineer.
3. Therefore, Asian people are smart no wonder they are either a doctor or engineer when they gradutate from college.
"Ad Hominem"
1.My mom say I can't sleep at my cousin's house.
2. Although she let my younger sister sleep at my cousin's house.
3.So why should i listen to her when she let my sister sleep and not me.
Bandwagon Fallacy
1. Lil Bow Wow have a Jordan shoe.
2. Lil Romeo also have a jordan shoe.
3. Therefore, who ever have a Jordon shoe play well in basketball.
-Maiker Yang
Ad Hominem-
My boyfriends mother said we are going to hell for having kids out of wedlock yet she left her husband for another man.
False Analogy-
If your a mother on WIC or Welfare that makes you a lowlife or a bad parent.
Bandwagon-
models are stick thin, Actresses are stick thin thats why all of us women need to be stick thin.
Deanna
Saturdays
Faulty Causality
classmate (boy): I have to get up at 5 am to take my girlfriend to work.
Classmate (girl): I have to get up at 5 am every day
I: They must be boyfriend and girlfriend relationship.
"Ad Hominem"
When I invited my firend to watch a movie, she said she would be busy with her homework.
When I went to party that night, I met her there
Therefore, I won't trust her anymore.
Bandwagon Fallacy
In the Public speech class, all the students are laughing.
In the public speech class, the teacher Sandra is laughing.
Therefore: All the people attend public speech class must be laughing.
Sat. Cherie
Alright let's see, three examples of people in my life that try to influence me with fallacies...
Faulty Causality
Well I have a friend, I'll leave her nameless since I think it best, and anyway, we have a mutual acquaintance that has made some stupid mistakes in his life. Well one such mistake offended my friend, and since I'm still associating with him, my friend says that I must therefore agree with him and support him in his mistake.
Ad Hominem
Even though the above issue can also be somewhat of an ad hominem fallacy, I believe a better example in my life is of my mom. When one of us, her kids, does something that is wrong or upsetting she tends to feel like she has failed in some way. That would be like saying, "since she has bad kids she must be a horrible person." This could be true, but it could also be far from the truth, since children have their own agency/motivation.
Band Wagon Fallacy
One that I tend to see today, and that I think surrounds all of our lives, is that of a lack or morals. It seems like today if you try to stand for something people look at you funny. It’s almost to the point were people say, "why stand up for anything, everything is right and ok if it makes you happy, everyone’s just going with the flow." I understand giving people their rights and I support that completely, but it seems like people become upset if you say that you don't support homosexual relations (just an example), yet they fail to realize that they have their believes and other people have their own. It feels like we're saying you must support homosexual relationships since everyone has decided that's what's right. It's scary, what's to happen if someday everyone believes killing is ok, should we join this line of thought just because everyone else is.
Well I'm going to bed, I hope this makes sense but if it doesn't just realize I'm extremely tired and just got off work. With that good night and I'll see you in the morning. I'll bring donuts for old time sake.
Night,
Bryce Hayden
ahem.
jeremiah bringin down jeremiah
ad-hominem.
baby lotion is only for babies
i only use baby lotion
therefore i am a baby
bandwagon.
i only use baby lotion
and i know two people that also only use baby lotion
which means of course 7 billion people only use baby lotion... duh
slippery slope.
if the northern polar ice caps melt, the north pole will cease to exist
therefore al gore will be labeled a scrooge, killing santa and all everyones dreams, and the world.
jeremiah.
saturday.
i thought we got to pick three, i read it wrong
so faulty.
the only thing at UPS are boxes,
so jeremiah is therfore a box.
Faulty reasoning, my friend cheers for the cubs and my other friend says " God hate's the Cubs, so God hate you"
Ad hominem- my dad says refs are communist because they can't get anything right.
Bnad wagon- fantasy football you cheer for the player from the other team to sack your QB on your team because you improve your stats.
Arturo Cayo
bandwagon - Dia de los muertos is bein more public
so every mexican should celebrate dia de los muertos
Homanan- Bill clinton had an affair
was he really worried about the countries needs
Causeation- the world flooded before
and god said that he would never flood the world so that means its goin to burn this time and that is why we are havein global warming
i dont know if i did this right!
-marissa
Just so you know, I will need thousands of quizes over the break just to make it through another sad, sad day in my sad, sad life.
LEAH
Okay, now for real.
The Faulty Fallacy: when my boyfriend of many many many many many years says that the reason that we are paying so much in taxes is because the democrats all want to take our money...and our guns away from us, therefor all dems are bad people.
The Ad-Hominem Fallacy: when my roommate says that it is okay that his boyfriend does not keep the house clean, because he is still too young to understand about cleaning properly (he just turned 23 so you know).
Finally, The Bandwagon Fallacy: Hey since we are all responding to this blog posting, everyone in the world should respind to it as well.
Leah
Faulty Causality:
I am Mexican, my family and I speak Spanish, therefore all Mexicans speak Spanish.
Ad Hominem:
Because FEMA faked a press conference, therefore they are untrustworthy.
Bandwagon:
SUV's are great, all families should own a SUV.
Lucia Guerrero
FAULTY
Milk is a good source of calcium therefore cows are good sources for vitamins.
AD HOMINNEM
Raveen is awesome, so he couldn't possible ever do anything illegal.
BANDWAGON
Being popular and cool is sooooo much fun. Don't you want to be cool. Come on! Buy these shoes! Wear this shirt! Listen to this music! Label yourself as someone and something even though that's not even remotely who you are because fitting in is cool and being an individual is supa lame. That's right not super but supa! Do you really want to be SUPA lame? I don't think so.
- Raveen
Faulty Causality
I take drugs to improve my health, Heroin is a drug there for heroin will improve my health
Ad-hominem
I can speak for all minorities because I am a minority
Bandwagon
Everybody I know is disco dancing therefore you should put on platforms and boogey like john travolta or else you are a horrible human being
-Anthony Guzman
False analogy
My step brother makes these little things all the time. Once we were talking about politics and my brother in law started asking me if we hadn’t stopped Saddam Hussein when we did it would as if we hadn’t stopped Hitler during WWII. I wasn’t really ticked by that though.
Straw man
We all remember the 2004 elections and the horrific straw man that the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth fabricated. It consisted of smear adds claming that John Kerry was a “Flip Flopper” due to Kerry responding to allegations that he did not support the troops financially. Kerry voted for a supplemental bill that was paid for by rolling back tax cuts on the upper 2% income earning Americans, but voted against another version of the bill that was supported by the Bush administration. STRAW MAN!!!!!! That one didn’t trick me either but it’s a good example.
Misleading Vividness
I was scared out of my mind in junior high right after the Columbine massacre. The media said that there was one of these gunmen in every school and that I had to look for certain characteristics in people. Once you look at the statistics school shooting are not the epidemic they are made out to be.
Aaron Gomez
The bandwagon fallacies
Sence every celebrity gets plastic surgery done every person is now doing it just to look like there favorite celeberity.
Aida Lopez
FAULTY CAUSALITY
1.Caramel or Chocolate are bad for your teeth.
2.Caramel is worse than chocolate for your teeth.
3.Therefore chocolate must be good for your teeth.
AD HOMINEM
1.Danica Patrick told me racing is fun, but alway remember to wear your seatbelt. When she raced off in her F1 car, she failed to listen to her own advice.
BANDWAGON FALLACY
Michael Jordan's favorite shoes are the Jordan XIs, which are also my favorite. This means they are the best shoes available for basketball.
GEORGE FURUHASHI
Andrew says, Quiz
Bandwagon
My friends convinced me to play football by saying I would be the only who wouldn't be playing if I didn't join the team.
Ad Hominem
The alcohal companies posts signs like Alcohal can lead to liver failure. But they also produce comercials for their beer so why should we buy their beer if they say it is bad for you.
Faulty Causality
Everyone in Minnsota is a Vikings fan. My aunt lives in Minnesota. So my aunt is a Vikings fan. (my aunt is not a vikings fan)
Ad Hominem,
John mayor is a grammy winning music artist,
But john mayor is ugle so you shouldnt listen to his music.
Faulty
all blondes are dumb,
my friend is blonde
therefore she is dumb
bandwagon
cool kids are underage drinking
therefore it is ok to drink underage
nick barker
I work in an environment were faulty reasoning is apart of my daily life.
Faulty Causality
One might say;
There are a small amount of people who are in jail for things they did not do. Therefore no one should be arrested.
Ad-hominem
If some people are wrongfully imprisoned then all cops are bad.
Bandwagon Fallacy
Everyone was drinking pruno (an alcoholic beverage found in jail) so I thought I would to.
Bliss, Chris
Ad Hominim thing-
When My brother convinced my sister not to give me some of her ice cream because he reminded her that I tattled on her the week before.
Bandwagon-
The fact that the majority of society want things to be politically correct and in certian scenarios people, in certain company, some people will behave or speak differently than they normally would.
Faulty causality-
children with autism have taken immunity shots, thus immunity shots cause children to have autism.
Chris Zierman
Ad Hominem,
jessica Simpson is dumb althought her sister's music Ashley Simpson is great.
Faulty
All asians are brilliant at making cars although they are horrible at driving cars.
bandwagon
teens are getting pregnant at an early age therefore it is cool to get pregnant at an early age.
Lizzeth Lopez
Fallacy
Every human being needs water to survive. Therefore, plants are human beings.
Ad Hominem
My friends talking after loosing a basketball game by one point: “You turned the ball over to another team on our first possession on which they scored 2 points; therefore, we lost the game because of you.”
Bandwagon Fallacy
Every cool person has an iPod. That’s why you should by an iPod.
Vlad Slabosnitsky
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