Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Welcome back to another episode of the podcast where you get a little smarter & a little harder to fool every time you listen! Let’s start off with a quick review of a fallacy we learned earlier this season: the Toupee Fallacy. Yes, you heard that right…toupee, like the little wig that men who are balding wear. Ok, I’d encourage you to hit pause real quick and see if you can remember what the Toupee Fallacy is. The Toupee Fallacy goes like this, “All toupees look fake - I’ve never seen one that couldn’t tell was a fake!” It’s basically saying, “You can’t fool me!”
So, the question to ask yourself if you think you’re facing a Toupee Fallacy is this: “How do you know for sure? Isn’t it possible that you may have missed a few?”
If you want to review or hear more about this fallacy, go back & check out Episode 89.
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Alright, let’s dive into today’s new fallacy, the Argument to the Purse Fallacy. The Argument to the Purse Fallacy happens when someone tries to make or tries to dismiss an argument or position solely based on the wealth or financial status of the person presenting the argument. This fallacy is sometimes called
Here's an example of the "argument to the purse" fallacy:
Person A: "I believe that we should take action to address climate change and reduce our carbon emissions."
Person B: "Of course you do, you're a millionaire. You can afford to pay for all the expensive green technologies, but what about the rest of us who can't?"
In this example, Person B is committing the "argument to the purse" fallacy by implying that Person A's argument in support of addressing climate change is invalid solely because of their wealth. Person B is assuming that because Person A has more financial resources, their argument is biased and does not apply to the majority of people who do not have the same financial means, instead of addressing the merits of the argument itself. In this example, it would be called an Appeal to Wealth.
Or the argument could be reversed. For instance, it would be like politicians saying that the average person can’t even afford to pay for their own college education without getting assistance, so why should we trust them to make decisions about how our government’s money is spent? In this case, it would be called an Appeal to Poverty. Just because someone is poor, doesn’t mean they do not have the expertise or knowledge to understand national economic principles.
What’s wrong with the thinking here behind the Argument to the Purse is that it assumes that the person's financial resources or lack thereof, rather than the quality of their argument, determine the truth of their claims. Now, sure, the amount of money someone has may affect whether they’re able to have access to resources or certain experiences, but in the end, the thing we still have to look at is the argument itself. Is the argument they’re making true and sound? Period.
There have been lots of people who are rich that make big claims. In fact, right now, we have in our country a man named Bill Gates who got very wealthy making computer software. Well, he’s had lots of other ideas about stuff outside computer software: ideas about human health, technologies, farming practices and what he thinks people should be eating. Now, should we believe that all his ideas are good just because he’s super rich and has millions of dollars to back up his ideas? No! We still have to look at the ideas for what they are and ask if they’re actually good ideas!
Question to ask yourself: “Regardless of how wealthy they are, is their idea good or not?” *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?”
