Fallacy Summary and Application Paper
...orrect. People around you influence what you believe is right or wrong, what is true or false, and what will happen if after a certain something occurs. Fallacies of hasty generalization are significant to critical thinking in that assumptions must be avoided. In critical thinking, assumptions can often occur based on biased opinions or not enough information about the subject at hand. It is important to be aware of fallacies of hasty generalization when making decisions. The conclusion can be right or wrong depending on the sample size and biases. If the sample size is too small or if your decision is too biased, it is not appropriate to make generalizations based on them. I work in the produce industry and it is easy to come across an example of a fallacy of hasty generalization. The company I work for markets stone fruit for many small growers. These small growers come in to deliver product up to three times a day. Quality assurance technicians are employed to inspect quality and condition of the stone fruit on arrival. Sometimes the stone fruit is consistent in quality and condition throughout the day, however on occasion, the stone fruit will differ in quality and condition throughout. On days like that when the quality and condition is inconsistent that is when a fallacy of hasty generalization can happen. For example the first load of stone fruit the grower brings can be horrible; what will happen is that a quality assurance technician will assume that the fruit will be like that for the rest of the day. If that inspector does not check any other pallets from that grower the rest of the day that whole lot of stone fruit will be segregated as a bad lot and could potentially cost the grower a lot of money. It would be unfair to make that generalization about a grower’s fruit being bad all day due to lack of samples. The fallacy of look who’s talking is a fallacy of relevance. The fallacies of relevance “are fallacies that occur because the premises are logically irrelevant to the conclusion” (Bassham et al., 2002, p. 140). “The look who’s taking fallacy is committed when an arguer rejects another person’s argument or claim because that person fails to practice what he or she preaches” (Bassham et al., p. 145). When a person does not practice what they preach it makes them look like a hypocrite however their argument might not be incorrect. When looking at fallacy of look who’s talking and critical thinking, it is important to get all the facts, not just what the involved people are doing. A fallacy is only committed when the argument is rejected based on the hypocrisy. In critical thinking, perceptions and personal beliefs must be addressed because they are a factor; however, these perceptions and beliefs must not be the only deciding factor. In decision-making, a fallacy of look who’s talking may occur when determining what the problem and solution will be. Alternatives may be based on feelings rather than facts. An organizational example of a fallacy of look who’s talking would be the manager who always receives personal calls at work and tells his subordinates they cannot receive personal calls at work. Although he is a manager and has some benefits that others may not have he is being hypocritical. When subordinates reject his decision due to his hypocrisy, the fallacy of look who’s taking is committed. A good manager leads by example and if he practices what he preaches then his subordinates will respect him. The fallacy of appeal to ignorance is also a fallacy of insufficient evidence. “Fallacy of appeal to ignorance occurs when an arguer asserts that a claim must be true because one has proven it false, or, conversely, that a claim must be false because no one has proven it true” (Bassham et al., 2002, p. 166). This occurs when “an arguer treats a lack of evidence as positive evidence that a claim is true or false” (Bassham et al., 2002, p. 166). In general terms, if no one can prove the argument wrong, it must be true. A flaw in fallacies of ignorance is when there is lack of evidenc...