Logical Fallacies

Appeal to Flattery

The appeal to flattery would be most commonly used by people we might know as "brown-nosers" or "suck-ups." Essentially, person 1 uses complements or accolades to get what they want from person 2. The flattery seems to soften person 2, and often they will give what is desired to person 1, even if under other circumstances they would have been vehemently opposed to it.

Example:

Tom: Wow, Jenny, you look fantastic today!

Jenny: Gee thanks Tom!

Tom: New haircut? Looks great!

Jenny: *giggles*

Tom: Hey, so I was wondering if you had done that algebra assignment...

Gambler's Fallacy

The gambler's fallacy is used most often by, well, gamblers. It is an overly strong faith in positive probability. Basically, if a trend has been long-established, it is the assumption that the trend must break soon because, well, what are the odds! Those who employ this fallacy seem to forget that more often than not, the odds are highly in favor of the trend, and there is little chance that it will change.

Example:

Jorge: I'm betting on rooster 17.

Pedro: Why would you do that? He doesn't seem to be very strong compared to the others, and he's lost all of his matches so far.

Jorge: Well, no else is betting on him, so I'd win a lot of money. And, I mean, he has to win soon enough.

Appeal to Tradition

The appeal to tradition is used mostly by people who fear change. These people would rather stick with what they know than venture out into something new, even if it's better for them. This is because they have gotten so used to something being as it is, and therefore assume that it is ALL there is. There's no point in seeing something beyond tradition.

Example:

Trotsky: We must adhere to Leninist policies! There can be no change to the USSR, for only Lenin, the divine leader, knew what was best for us, and we cannot defy him!

Stalin: lol

This video is from the current season of Survivor. In it, you can see the use of the Appeal to Flattery. Danielle is using her flirtation to get closer to Colby, as she explains in the confessional towards the end of the clip. She is attracted to him, but she says that she's focused on the game, and will use her coquetry with Colby (obviously a method of flattery) in order to gain his trust and use him as a fall-back in case her alliance with Parvati and Russell breaks down.

Project Implicit

1.How did you react to your results? Were you surprised? Angry or hurt? Pleased? Discuss what you felt and why you think you felt what you did.

I was a bit surprised with my results for the African vs. European demonstration. There is an inherent "racism" of language that was visible in this test; anything dark or black is generally seen as bad and anything white is generally seen as good or pure, especially in literature. The test said that I moderately favored Europeans, which as a white male may simply be an intrinsic characteristic. I don't think I'm a racist, so that thought scares me, but the results do not make me feel angry or hurt.

2.Do you believe that your test results say something about you that you should pay attention to? Why or why not?

Honestly, I don't think the results are an accurate representation of myself. Beyond the innate favoritism of light over dark, at least in the white American society in which I was raised, I am not a racist. I also felt the test was tedious and I'm not sure if my performance was as precise as I would have hoped.

3.Do you think that these tests are valid? When you first saw your results, did you question or accept the tests' validity?

I'm not sure if the tests are valid, because while you are submitting your answers on a computer there are so many other variables that can affect your response. Just the pattern of keystrokes caused errors or time delays. Also, when I took the gender test, I purposefully tried to be a male chauvinist but my result was that I have no favoritism for either sex. So either the tests are invalid or I truly am subconsciously racist.

4.Give examples of the cultural messages that many support attitudes linking a dominant group in your nation or culture with "good" or "superior" attributes and a subordinate group with "bad" or "inferior" ones. Are these attitudes generalizations that can be called stereotypes? How can generalizations be distinguished from stereotypes?

I feel that generalizations and stereotypes are synonymous, as they both imply the homogenizing of unique people. Each human should be treated as an individual, not widely categorized. However, in society it is inevitable that people are compartmentalized. In the locality of Cape Cod, the white rich people are seen as dominant and superior, but not necessarily good; they are perceived more as stingy. Brazilians on Cape Cod are viewed as inferior, due to their prominence in lower-class Cape life (comparisons are made to poor rabbits). The Cape has such a wide array of socioeconomic situations that it is difficult to characterize a general view of each one, and it is especially unfair for a middle-class white boy like me to be doing so.

5. If some of our consciously held beliefs, attitudes, and values are undermined by what Gladwell calls rapid cognition (others call this intuitive thinking or even gut feelings), what do you suggest we can do to combat jumping to (false) conclusions?

We can do nothing. The subconscious, or our inherent and natural human nature, is deep-rooted and can't simply be eradicated. Our beliefs and attitudes help us define who we are.