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Fallacies of Logic (Logos) This fallacy attempts to create a causal relationship between ideas/events. While there may be evidence to eventually support the belief that the two events are linked, the conclusion that the one must be due to the other simply because it happened afterward is false.

Logos is about appealing to your audience’s logical side. You have to think about what makes sense to your audience and use that as you build your argument. As writers, we appeal to logos by presenting a line of reasoning in our arguments that is logical and clear.

These fallacies may unfairly build up the credibility of the author (or the author’s allies) or unfairly attack the credibility of the author’s opponent (or allies). Fallacies of logos give an unfair advantage to the claims of the speaker or writer or an unfair disadvantage to his opponent’s claims.

Fallacies are defects that weaken arguments. Fallacious arguments are very common and can be persuasive in common use. They may be even “unsubstantiated assertions that are often delivered with a conviction that makes them sound as though they are proven facts”.

• Ad Hominem.
• Strawman Argument.
• Appeal to Ignorance.
• False Dilemma.
• Slippery Slope Fallacy.
• Circular Argument.
• Hasty Generalization.
• Red Herring Fallacy.

Here are my key take aways:

1. Distinguish between rhetoric and logic. In logical arguments, it obviously matters whether your logic is right.
2. Identify bad proofs. A bad proof can be a false comparison.
3. Identify the wrong number of choices. This one is easy to spot.
4. Identify disconnects between proof and conclusion.

6 Logical Fallacies That Can Ruin Your Growth

• Hasty Generalization. A Hasty Generalization is an informal fallacy where you base decisions on insufficient evidence.
• Appeal to Authority. “Fools admire everything in an author of reputation.”
• Appeal to Tradition.
• Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
• False Dilemma.
• The Narrative Fallacy.
• 6 Logical Fallacies That Can Ruin Your Growth.

To counter the use of a logical fallacy, you should first identify the flaw in reasoning that it involves, and then point it out and explain why it’s a problem, or provide a strong opposing argument that counters it implicitly.

The key to avoiding the bandwagon fallacy is thinking about whether popularity is truly relevant to what you’re discussing. Sometimes, the majority of people believing something is important to an argument, or at least a reason for looking at something more closely.

Gaslighting refers to intentional attempts to manipulate you into doubting your feelings, perception of events, and reality in general. Someone trying to gaslight you typically wants to confuse you and make you doubt yourself to make it more likely you’ll go along with what they want.

Things to say when you’re being gaslighted: “I hear that your intention was to make a joke, and the impact was hurtful” “My feelings are my feelings; this is how I feel” “This is my experience and these are my emotions” “It sounds like you feel strongly about that, and my emotions are valid too”

Signs of gaslighting

• feel confused and constantly second-guess themselves.
• find it difficult to make simple decisions.
• frequently question if they are too sensitive.
• become withdrawn or unsociable.
• constantly apologize to the abusive person.
• defend the abusive person’s behavior.

The parent makes their child feel worse about themselves. Rather than being emotionally supportive, gaslighting parents will make their child feel worse about whatever difficult situation they’re in—whether it’s a mistake, a failure, or a day-to-day stressor. Spinelli says this behavior indicates gaslighting.

“The silent treatment is the ultimate gaslighting because it denies the reality of you, of your humanity,” Sarkis says.

Even in therapy, a gaslighter may not truly be aware of, or may refuse to acknowledge that their behavior is the problem. Even if a person is practicing gaslighting behavior without being consciously aware of it, they may get a “payoff” when their victim becomes more dependent on them. And then the cycle continues.

Fallacious arguments are very common and can be persuasive in common use. They may be even “unsubstantiated assertions that are often delivered with a conviction that makes them sound as though they are proven facts”. Informal fallacies in particular are found frequently in mass media such as television and newspapers.

7 Either/Or (“False Dilemma”) Fallacy Examples in Real Life

• “You could either pursue your dream job or stay where you are and be miserable for the rest of your life.”
• “You either support praying in public schools or you’re an atheist.”
• “You can either come with me to the party tonight or sit at home alone and be bored all night.”

Bandwagon is a persuasive technique and a type of propaganda through which a writer persuades his readers, so that the majority could agree with the argument of the writer. The term bandwagon means, to “jump on the bandwagon,” to follow what others are doing, or to conform.

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Jump on the bandwagon’? The word bandwagon was coined in the USA in the mid 19th century, simply as the name for the wagon that carried a circus band. Barnum, the great showman and circus owner, used the term in 1855 in his unambiguously named autobiography The Life of P.T.

How to avoid the bandwagon effect

1. Create distance from the bandwagon cues.
2. Create optimal conditions for judgment and decision-making.
3. Slow down your reasoning process.
4. Make your reasoning process explicit.
5. Hold yourself accountable for your decisions.
6. Examine the bandwagon.