Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Let’s start off today with a quick review of a fallacy we covered earlier this season, the Argumentum ad Hitlerum. Do you want to hit pause real quick and see if you can remember what this fallacy is? The Argumentum ad Hitlerum is Latin for Argument from Hitler, and this fallacy is also called Appeal to Hitler, the Nazi Argument, among other names. It’s a form of an Appeal Fallacy, where someone is appealing to a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis. Basically, the Argumentum ad Hitlerum says that if you do, think or believe something that Hiter also did, thought or believed, then you’re basically a Nazi. The reason this Guilt by Association fallacy having to do with Hiter gets its own name is that for some reason, people use this comparison a lot.
Question to ask yourself: “ “Is it really true that it’s a bad idea just b/c Hitler & the Nazis did it or believed it?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, check out Episode 65.
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Ok, let’s dive into the new fallacy we’ll be covering today: The Apple Polishing Fallacy. The Apple Polishing fallacy happens when someone offers excessive compliments or flattery to the other person instead of a good argument. It’s a type of appeal to emotion where the person is trying to appeal to the other person’s pride or vanity and hoping they’ll give support, approval or that they’ll overlook the lack of good evidence in a faulty argument. The name comes from the practice of schoolchildren bringing a shiny apple to give to their teacher to try to win favor with the teacher. It’s also called an Appeal to Flattery, brown-nosing, and Argumentum Ad Superbiam, which is Latin for Appeal to Pride.
You’ll recognize this one really easily: It’s the kid whose mom catches him making a massive mess in his room and he looks and sees the look on her face and immediately says, ‘Wow, you look so pretty today Mommy! You’re the best Mommy in the whole world and I love you so much’. Ok, it sounds sweet, right? And it can kind of melt your heart, which is what he’s hoping it’ll do. The reason he’s saying it is to take the attention off the giant mess he’s made and hopefully butter Mom up so she’s not so mad about it.
It’s telling your sister how good she is at loading the dishwasher, in hopes that she’ll empty the whole thing and you won’t have to.
Speakers will sometimes start off a talk by complimenting the audience on something in hopes that it’ll make them more open to receive their message.
Advertisers will say things like, “Smart consumers choose XYZ toothpaste”
Politicians will say things like, “People who understand economics know my plan is the only way forward.”
Salespeople will say, “Oh my goodness, that dress makes you look 10 years younger - you need it!”
I’m sure you can see the problem with the thinking behind the Apple Polishing fallacy…saying nice things to butter someone up is still not addressing the issue. Flattery is not a good substitute for a good argument and it doesn’t make up for a false claim. It’s an appeal to emotion and it’s also a Red Herring, which we covered back in episode 9. The reason this fallacy works on people is because flattery works. It appeals to our pride and our desire to be seen and noticed as being good in some way and it feels good when it seems like someone else notices. The downside of this is that it can make us susceptible to being manipulated by people seeking to use flattery to get something from you or to fool you in some way.
So, the question to ask yourself when you’re faced with the Apple Polishing Fallacy is this: “Are they using flattery to distract or avoid?” *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: “Is that really true?”
