Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Before I dive into today’s episode, let me give you a quick update. Here we are on episode 170, and let me tell you, when I started this podcast, I had no idea there were so many fallacies!! There are over 300 of them, in fact! And in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking about how many I’m going to cover in the podcast.
I really want to create a comprehensive resource here as a go-to for my listeners, but I also want to keep in mind WHY I’m doing this podcast and I want to keep my audience in mind as well.
Here’s the reality: This podcast isn’t for phd philosophy students. Maybe one day one of you will be getting your phd in philosophy, but at that point, you won’t be using this podcast as a reference, lol. My whole goal here is to equip the next generation, tweens & teens - and thier parents! - to think WELL, to think for themselves, to develop media discernment, to become impossible to manipulate and to become impervious to lies & propaganda.
So as I started looking at the fallacies I haven’t covered yet, what I’m discovering is that a lot of the ones I haven’t covered yet are super similar to the ones I HAVE covered, with just very small nuances of differences. And I just don’t know that it’s going to be super helpful to my listeners to go into all these super tiny nuances and differences that philosophy majors love to argue about and geek out over.
That’s just not the point of this podcast. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going through the fallacies I haven’t covered yet and making a list of the ones that are unique & different enough to give an episode to and I’m going to cover them.
I’m also making a list of any propaganda tactics or manipulation techniques that I haven’t covered yet and I’ll include them, and then I’m wrapping up Season 1!
It’ll be a long season, probably at least 200 episodes, but I wanted this podcast to be organized well, I’m just that sort of person.
Then, I’m going to start Season 2 where I talk about Cognitive Biases. I’ll freshen stuff up with new music because you’re probably totally sick of hearing the little intro & outro song by now, so the podcast will get a little makeover to keep it fresh and we’ll move onto a new topic in Season 2.
And I already have plans for Season 3!
Do you want a little teaser about Season 3? I’m going to be covering Words & Ideas You Should Know. It’ll still be short, easy episodes where I break down terms we use in society that you may not know what they mean.
Like, What is Marxism, what is Socialism, What is Communism? What’s the difference? What is Democracy, What is a Republic? What’s the Difference? And it won’t all be political…I’ll cover things like worldview: What is Nihilism? What is Transcendentalism? Or ideas like Capitalism and Free Market. Anyways, that’ll be Season 3.
So anyways, that’s a longer update than I was planning on giving, but I thought you may be interested in hearing where this is going and that we’re in the process of winding down Season 1 on Fallacies & thinking errors.
Ok, so let’s get on with today’s episode! First off, a quick review of a fallacy we covered earlier in Season 1, the Plain Folks Fallacy, or as it’s sometimes called, the Plain Clothes Fallacy. The plain clothes or plain folks fallacy happens when an argument is made to seem more convincing by presenting the speaker as a "common" or "ordinary" person.
Question to ask yourself when you’re hearing Plain Clothes testimonials is this: “Regardless of who’s recommending this product or service, is it really the best option for me?”
If you want to review or hear more about this fallacy, go back & check out Episode 103.
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Alright, let’s talk about today’s new fallacy, the Quantum Physics Fallacy. The Quantum Physics Fallacy happens when someone uses Quantum Physics to support their claim, even if their claim has nothing to do with Quantum Physics. The idea behind it is they’re trying to make their claim irrefutable, and since most people do not understand Quantum Physics, they figure nobody will be able to refute their claim if they use it. This fallacy is also called an Appeal to Quantum Physics.
Here’s a simple example: Sam, who just recently heard the phrase ‘Quantum Physics’, tells his younger brother, “Quantum Physics says people can fly if they wear purple capes.” Well, his younger brother knows nothing about Quantum Physics (and by the way, neither does Sam) so there’s no way he can refute this outlandish claim. Now, what he’ll probably say is “that’s just dumb” or something like that, and he’d be right.
The problem behind the Quantum Physics Fallacy is pretty obvious: it’s a made-up claim that nobody can argue with, but it’s avoiding addressing the original argument. It’s a smokescreen, and a flat-out falsity, and a bit of an appeal to ignorance. Quantum Physics is a bizarre, difficult to understand field of study that’s been used to try to explain all kinds of weird ideas, and there are so few people who know enough about it to refute it well that sometimes these weird ideas go unchecked. In fact, even people who study Quantum Physics readily admit nobody really understands Quantum Physics! So this Appeal to Quantum Physics is just a big nothing-burger.
Really, for this fallacy, we can insert any idea into the assertion: “Quantum Physics proves there is no God.” “Quantum Physics proves there must be a God.” “Quantum Physics proves the Big Bang Theory is true.” “Quantum Physics proves creation is true.”
Question to ask yourself: “What do you know about Quantum Physics?” or, as I’d probably say, “That’s ridiculous.” *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?”
