Fallacies_and_Generalizations

Fallacies and Generalizations “When writers present evidence to support a position, it must be compelling, reliable, timely, and relevant.” pg 211 Fallacies and generalizations are both different types of arguments. In this paper I would like to show the different types of fallacies and generalizations, and show the differences between the two. A fallacy is also known as a flawed argument. Sometimes, writers use fallacies unknowingly or accidentally, and some writers use them intentionally because they sound somewhat logical. An example of a fallacy is called the either-or fallacy or the false dilemma. This fallacy offers a complex situation as having two different sides. An example of a false dilemma is like, “the universe could not have been created from nothing, so it must have been created by an intelligent life force.” A false analogy is an analogy that compress two unlike things. A false analogy assumes that because an issue, a concept, a person, and so forth, is similar to another issue, concept, or person in some kind of way. For example, “Employees are like nails. Just as nails must be hit in the head in order to make them work, so must employees.” Another example of a false analogy is, “leaving the Titanic and other sunken vessels at the bottom of the sea is like dumping garbage into our oceans, another form of pollution.” Red herring fallacy is a fallacy that shifts the focus of the reader away from the main argument. For example, “the newest makeup on the market is being banned by environmentalists, but the manufacturer is a big contributer to the March of Dimes.” I use red herring alot, but I never realize I do. My mom always ask me to do my chores and they better be done before she gets back from the store. However, when she comes back my chores are not completed. My excuse most of the time is that, “I got caught up in a game or a show that was really good and I just wanted to finish it.” Bandwagon fallacy invites readers to jump the bandwagon. It is a cliche that indicates that the reader should believe something because so many other people already believe it. Bandwagon can be seen anywhere, many stores have the saying the words like; best, number 1, most popular, etc. Bandwagon is often used in sports and by sports fans. Whatever team is successful at the time, people tend to like them because of their success and everyone else likes that team as well. Generalizations are conclusions about situations without sufficient evidence that should be avoided. There are many different types of generalizations like a hasty generalization. A hasty generalization gets to a conclusion without sufficient evidence. For example, my friends ex girlfriend thought he was cheating on her because he took his cousin from Arizona out to dinner for her birthday and his girlfriend had a friend that worked at the restaurant and told her that he was with another girl. The friend at the restaurant jumped to a conclusion that he was cheating on his girlfriend, just because he was with another girl at a restaurant. A sweeping generalization occurs when a writer makes an absolute statement about a group for which there are no exceptions. Many kids like me use this to convince their parents to let them do something. For example, I always tell my parents that everyone is going somewhere and tell them since everyone is going, then I should be able to go. In conclusion, fallacies and generalizations are two different kinds of arguments. There are many different types of fallacies and generalizations. I chose this topic because I wanted to learn about what these two things are and how they are used in everyday life. I realized that I use many of these and I never knew that I did.