Politicians often offer arguments that make no sense. “Fallacies are used all the time in campaigns,” says Sam Nelson, director of forensics at Cornell University’s school of Industrial and Labor Relations. “Human beings are busy. We have all kinds of information around us all the time, we don’t have time to logically think through every [...]
Logic
Some interesting thoughts from James Gray on whether all good arguments are logically sound. Understanding why helps us appreciate good arguments. Proof that not all arguments are logically sound An argument against the belief that all good arguments are logically sound is the following: At least some good scientific theories were proven to be false. [...]
Richard Thaler with an interesting article in the New York Times on slippery-slope logic. One pernicious category of imaginary risks involves those created by users of the dreaded “slippery slope” arguments. Such arguments are dangerous because they are popular, versatile and often convincing, yet completely fallacious. A DirecTV ad humorously illustrates the basic form of [...]
An interesting study: Reasoning is generally seen as a means to improve knowledge and make better decisions. However, much evidence shows that reasoning often leads to epistemic distortions and poor decisions. This suggests that the function of reasoning should be rethought. Our hypothesis is that the function of reasoning is argumentative. It is to devise [...]
