Here we are, rumbling toward the election of a president and others. It is time to think critically, to recognize when someone might be trying to spoon feed us fertilizer. Understanding a few logical fallacies might be a step toward that.
Black and white fallacy: “If you don’t support quadrupling the defense budget, then you must be for a weak defense.” Ah, but what about all those unstated choices in between?
Ad hominem: basically name-calling. Apparently addressing the argument is too difficult, let’s just call him a worm, and never mind that we have no evidence that he is actually a worm.
Fallacy of composition: what one person states is true for the group. This disregards that fact that within a group there is a spectrum of beliefs, values and ideas. A statement from the edge of the spectrum may not be representative of the majority, but hey, it makes great talk show fodder.
