Hey what’s up guys! Kathy Gibbens here…let’s start off today’s episode with a quick review of a fallacy we’ve covered before: the Fallacy Fallacy.
The Fallacy Fallacy happens when someone disregards another person’s argument b/c they did a poor job arguing it or b/c they used a fallacy when presenting it.
The tricky thing about the Fallacy Fallacy is that someone could use bad thinking but still be right. Just because they used a fallacy in their reasoning or in their argument doesn’t automatically make their argument false or invalid! So, the question to ask yourself when you’re faced with the Fallacy Fallacy - especially if you catch yourself doing it! - is this: “Does the fact that they used a fallacy make what they’re saying wrong?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, check out Episode 31.
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Alright, let’s dive into today’s New Fallacy: Guilt by Association. The Guilt by Association Fallacy happens when someone rejects an idea or a claim simply because someone who they dislike also believes the idea or claim. We see this happen with idea held by groups of people who have been “demonized”...and basically everything & anything they believe is discredited simply b/c they believe it. This fallacy is also sometimes called the Bad Company Fallacy.
Here’s a super simple example of how this sounds: Alex wears red Converse and he stole gum from the store last week. Clearly, everyone who wears red Converse are thieves and can’t be trusted. Ok, you can clearly see what’s wrong with the argument in this example. The Red Converse aren’t the thing that made Alex a thief! Just because other people also wear Red Converse doesn’t therefore make them thieves.
The problem with the thinking in the Guilt by Association Fallacy is that people aren’t automatically wrong or guilty just b/c they have some similarity with a person or group who is guilty or wrong. But people don’t like to be associated with people they don’t like, so it can be easy to influence them to change their mind or give up an idea simply by implying that that idea makes them “just like” a person or a group that they don’t like.
Here’s another real life example. Here in the states, there is a church called Westboro Baptist Church out of Kansas. This is a church that calls itself “Christian” but they do terrible things! For instance, they would show up at the funerals of soldiers who had been killed at war and hold signs and chant “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “God hates you”. This is just a small example of the horrible things this church said and believed. Now, imagine you have a new co-worker that you’re getting to know and they find out that you are a Christian and attend church. This new co-worker says, “Oh my gosh! How could you be a Christian? Christians are so hateful and they’re happy when soldiers die!” Whew!! That’s tough! But the fallacy they’re committing is that just b/c this one group of crazies called themselves Christians doesn’t mean every Christian holds the same crazy beliefs that they do.
So, the question to ask yourself: “Is it really true that it’s a bad idea just b/c that other person or group did it or believed it?” *repeat*
Ok, that’s it for today, join me tomorrow when we’re going to dive even deeper into this Guilt by Association Fallacy. And..
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
