ï»żHey whatâs up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens hereâŠ
I want to start off by sharing an email from a listener that I recently received. This is from Denise: âHello Kathy! Thank you so much for your wonderful podcast. I am learning so much, even at 58 years old! I was a straight A student in the public school system but was never taught HOW to think. Thank you for helping me to think well instead of stumbling around in blind acceptance.â Ok, this email is awesome! I love it that at the age of 58 youâre still learning new things & learning new ways to think better! Denise, thank you for listening to the podcast and thanks so much for writing in!
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Ok, todayâs fallacy is something I'm going to guess youâve heard from your parents before: âTwo Wrongs Donât Make a Rightâ. Iâm sure you've heard that before. So the âTwo Wrongs Make a Rightâ Fallacy happens when a person justifies something they did by saying that the other person would have done it or that the other person did the same thing first. OR sometimes itâs used to justify a wrong action or a behavior because âother people do itâ.
A super simple example of this used to happen to me as a child. My brother and I would start arguing, then hitting. Our Mom would see one of us hitting the other and tell us to stop hitting, to which, of course, we would reply (and Iâll bet you could say it with me!): âBut he hit me first!â We were making a classic Two Wrongs Make a Right fallacy. Because my brother hit me first, I therefore felt justified in hitting him back.
Another example of this would be if Tina buys a jacket at the store and notices that they undercharged her for the jacket by mistake. Tina decides not to go back and have them charge her the correct price because sheâs sure that if she had accidentally overpaid, they wouldnât have returned the money to her. This one is even more fallacious b/c Tina is making an assumption about what the store would have done, when in reality, she doesnât actually know, sheâs just using the assumption to justify her actions.
Or how about this one: âWhy shouldn't I gossip about Jeremy? You know he talks about us every chance he gets.â
The problem with the thinking here is super simple: Something that is wrong for one person is wrong for the other person! Two wrongs DONâT make a right.
Hereâs another example: One politician, when confronted about his lewd comments about women, defends himself by pointing out how his opponent also treated women horribly. The reality is, this behavior isnât ok for either of them! And just because someone else did it, doesnât mean itâs right for them to do, too.
Now, the thing this fallacy doesnât cover is justified retribution or justified preventative measures. Which is to say that if someone commits a crime, there should be punishment. When someone steals from a store, there should be consequences, and there are, assuming they get caught. We have laws that govern behavior to keep people from hurting others. Can you see the difference between consequences and the Two Wrongs Make a Right fallacy?
Question to ask yourself: âIs it really true that a second wrong will cancel out the first wrong?â *repeat*
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: âIs that really true?â
