Purposive Communication

Activity 7 Fallacies

1. Example of the “Non Sequitur” fallacy

 Person A: "I crave for chocolate ice cream. It's my favorite dessert."

Person B: "You should try jogging. It's great for cardiovascular health."

Person B's reaction in this instance is illogical since it suggests attempting jogging
without making any sense of Person A's claim that she like chocolate ice cream. It
is a false argument since the two claims are unconnected.

2. Example of the “Poisoning the well” fallacy

 Person A: "I believe we should hire David for the project. She has the necessary
skills and experience."

Person B: "Don't listen to Person A. They have a personal grudge against David
and are just trying to sabotage him chances."

In this case, Person B poisons the well by claiming that Person A's advice is
slanted and motivated by personal hostility toward David. Without offering any
supporting data or addressing David's credentials for the assignment, Person B
seeks to undermine Person A's judgment.

3. Example of the “Post Hoc” fallacy

 Person A: "I wore as red sock and aced the board exam!"

Person B: "Wow, wearing red socks must guarantee good results."

Person B makes the "Post Hoc" fallacy in this illustration by thinking that Person
A's test performance was caused by wearing red socks merely because the two
occurrences happened after one another. Based only on a coincidental association,
Person B jumps to a quick and erroneous conclusion without considering any
additional variables that could have contributed to the positive grade.
4. Example of the “Red Herring” fallacy
  Person A: "We should focus on improving our education system to address the
low graduation rates."

Person B: "But what about the rising crime rates in our city? That's a much bigger
issue we should be discussing."

In this instance, Person B uses a red herring fallacy to divert attention away from
the school system and toward the growing crime rates. Person B introduces an
unrelated topic to deflect attention from the issue of graduation rates and move
the conversation in a new direction.

5. Example of the “Shifting the burden proof” fallacy

 Person A: "I believe dragons exist."

Person B: "Prove it. Show me concrete evidence that dragons are real."

Person A: "Well, can you prove that dragons don't exist?"

rather than giving evidence to back their argument that unicorns exist, Person A
commits the mistake of "shifting the burden of proof" in this instance by asking
Person B to demonstrate that unicorns do not exist. By doing this, Person A avoids
offering support for their own claim and shifts the onus of proving it on Person B.

6. Example of the “Slippery Slope” fallacy

 Person A: "We should require students to wear uniforms in schools."

Person B: "If we make students wear uniforms, soon they'll lose all sense of
individuality!"

By believing that having a consistent policy for pupils will unavoidably result in a
full loss of uniqueness, Person B makes the "slippery slope" fallacy in this
instance. Without considering the possible advantages of uniforms or the
opportunity for finding a balance between uniformity and self-expression, Person
B leaps to an exaggerated conclusion.

7. Example of the “Straw Man” fallacy

 Person A: "I think we should limit the use of plastic bags to reduce environmental
pollution."
Person B: "Oh, so you want to ban all kinds of bags and make everyone carry
their groceries by hand?"

By distorting Person A's argument in this instance, Person B uses the "straw man"
fallacy. Person A advises reducing the usage of plastic bags, but Person B
misrepresents it by assuming an extreme and unworkable result of banning all
bags. Person B avoids addressing Person A's initial problem by criticizing this
overblown version.