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.