Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Let’s start off today’s episode by reviewing a fallacy we covered earlier this season: the Accident Fallacy. The Accident Fallacy happens when someone applies a general rule, or what we call a ‘rule of thumb’ to all examples, while ignoring valid exceptions. Now, the use of the word ‘accident’ in this fallacy doesn’t mean what we typically think of as an accident, like tripping on the curb or dropping a pencil. As it’s used in this fallacy, it has more to do with ‘non-essential’.
Question to ask yourself: “Does that rule apply in this situation?”
And if this sounds confusing, definitely go back and & check out Episode 120 here on the podcast.
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Alright, let’s dive into today’s new fallacy, The Appeal to Extremes. The Appeal to Extremes happens when someone takes a valid argument to the extreme in an attempt to make the argument look or sound ridiculous. This fallacy is also known as The argumentum ad absurdum, which is Latin for "argument to absurdity". And if this fallacy sounds familiar, you’d be right. This is a version of the Strawman fallacy that we covered back in episode 8!
Here’s a simple example of the Appeal to Extremes: Miriam is complaining about her schoolwork to her parents and she says, "If the teacher gives us any more homework, I'll either become a robot doing homework 24/7 or I’ll drop out of school forever!" Ok, can you see how she’s totally exaggerating the consequences of the additional homework? In reality, she can learn to manage her workload without such extreme outcomes.
Another example would be for a politician to say: “We can’t accept refugees from Guatemala…there are 17 million people who live in Guatemala…what if they all come? Where would we put them?” Ok, can you see how this politician is taking an argument about accepting refugees to a ridiculous extreme? They’re saying that because we couldn’t take every single person from the country of Guatemala, that we shouldn’t take any of them. He totally took it too far, rather than addressing the issue as it actually is.
The problem behind the thinking behind the Appeal to Extremes is that just because something CAN be made to look ridiculous when taken to the extreme doesn’t mean it’s a bad or invalid argument! Let’s face it, we could get creative and make just about anything seem ridiculous if we really wanted to! I could tell my daughter to bring a jacket because it’s going to get chilly when the sun goes down and she could reply: “Ugh, you act like we live in the North Pole!” Uhhh…no. That’s making my argument about bringing the jacket seem ridiculous, when it’s actually a valid claim based on the temperature.
Here’s an example of the Appeal to Extremes that actually happened: During the Cold War, there was a common propaganda technique known as "Red Scare" in the United States. It involved portraying anyone suspected of being a communist or sympathizing with communist ideas as an extreme threat to national security. For instance, the claim that "If we allow any communist influence in our government, our entire country will fall to communism, and our way of life will be destroyed" was a common argument. This appeal to extremes was used to justify various actions, including the McCarthy hearings and blacklisting of individuals in the entertainment industry. While the concern about communism was real during the Cold War (and quite frankly, is still a real threat), the extent of the threat was sometimes exaggerated for political purposes, and many innocent people suffered as a result.
Question to ask yourself: “Is that really possible or are they purposely trying to make the argument seem 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?”
