Logical Fallacies

(a) Poisoning The Well

This logical fallacy means that negative information is presented about a person so that whatever they do or say will be disregarded.

Example: She is such an attention seeker! She only starts crying to be the center of attention.

(b) Appeal to Novelty

This logical fally means that it presents an idea as better or correctly just because it is new.

Example: This car must be the best. It is the latest model with all the updated technology.

(c) Appeal to Authority

This logical fallacy means that a statement is considered correct simply because someone claiming to have authority on the subject says so, even though they might not be qualified to make a such a statement.

Example: Hitler said Jews were the cause of World War 1. Since Hitler is the Chancellor of Germany then it must have been the Jews that started the First World War.

In this image there is appeal to fame (I came up with this on my own). Appeal to fame is the logical fallacy meaning that the person who is claiming the idea is famous or holds some sort of celebrity status which then means that what they are saying is true. In this case we see Beyonce endorsing the White Diamonds fragrance for Armani. Because she holds celebrerity satus and is quite famous then it must mean that the perfume smells good.

Race Result: Your data suggest a slight automatic preference for European American compared to African American.

Native Result: Your data suggest little or no association between White Am. and Native Am. with Foreign and American.

1. For the race results, I was not surprised about it whatsoever. I did not have much of a reaction because I felt that it was an appropriate representation of my views. Similarly, for the native result, I was not surprised either. I also felt that it was an accurate result and thus I did not have much of a reaction.

2. I don't think either test raised any flags for me. For the race test, the only one that was not neutral, was not much of a reflection of me as a person but how American society has influenced me in the perception of African Americans. So it is not so much that it says something about myself but rather about society as a whole.

3. I thought both of my results were valid. I accepted them as accurate right away and felt that they reflected my thoughts and feelings correctly.

4. One example is the belief that people from the Northern states or Western States, more specifically, the Northeast, are smarter, more talented, more successful, open minded and generally better than those from the South, more specifically, the Deep South. These generalizations can be considered stereotypes because although they although they have basis in some truth, they don't accurately portray the people from the South. In order to distinguish generalizations from stereotypes, the generalizations have to be true and they have to represent the people accurately so that they can be applied to most Southerners and have it be true whether these generalizations be good or bad.

5. In order to combat jumping to false conclusions, we as a society have to combat all forms of ignorance. By educating ourselves about other types people, whether we approve of them or not, we will began to understand and those conscious thoughts will sear into our minds and become unconscious thinking. Since humans can't help make rapid cognition, through education and the fight against ignorance, our rapid cognition will lead us to accurate conclusions rather than false ones.