Things that Give Writers Fits

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Fallacies

Good writing is good thinking. And good thinking is hard. So that’s why much of what’s written these days (particularly stuff that appears in our popular media) is filled with blatant errors in thinking, otherwise known as fallacies. There are many different types of fallacies, and scholars have given them fancy names, like False Dilemma or Slippery Slope or Non Sequitur. If you’re like me, your high school English teacher made you memorize at least some of the categories, but you have long since forgotten the difference between, say, ad hoc fallacies and ad homeniem fallacies — if you ever really cared about the difference in the first place.

But, if you’d rather not study that list (or all the others that are available elsewhere) just remember this about fallacies: any time you find yourself coming to a conclusion that is likely incorrect, you are committing a fallacy.

So, this means that when the weatherman predicts rain for the weekend and you cancel your plans to go camping “because it’s going to rain,” you’re committing a fallacy. It’s better to say, “because the weatherman says it’s going to rain.” See the difference?

Or, when you say “all the students loved” the newly retired teacher, you’re committing a fallacy. Better: “students have expressed their love for the teacher.” Isn’t that just as nice — without being inaccurate?

Or when you say “channel 3’s newscast has the highest ratings, so it’s the best,” you’re committing a fallacy. Just stick end the sentence after “ratings,” and you’re much safer.

And the list goes on.

I chose fallacies as the most important of the common writing struggles because they are so prevalent in our society that people often make decisions based on them. People, for example, often vote for political candidates they perceive are the most popular. Accordingly, candidates who distribute few or no yard signs usually have little chance of winning, regardless of their qualifications. That’s a huge social problem created by the frustrating prevalence of fallacies in our world.

Also, it’s fairly common for people to take extra security precautions for a few days after they hear of a gruesome crime in their city. They willingly inconvenience themselves and others despite no real proof that they are under any added threat. Several recent studies have shown, in fact, that crime in the United States has actually gone down since 1990, but most Americans believe it is at an all-time high.)

Fallacies have a great number of social consequences. If we spot them and, accordingly, rid our writing of them, we are, in our own little way, contributing to a better world.