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Opinion: Let’s step back and be logical about this

With the barrage of opinions out there, it’s more important than ever to be a critical thinker
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Let’s talk about logical fallacies.

A fallacy is the word used to describe an argument that involves invoking fault reasoning in the construction of an argument.

While it may seem to make logical sense, a fallacious argument is deceptive in the fact it appears to make sense or appears to be better than it actually is.

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Popular fallacies includes the Ad Hominem, which involves attacking a person rather than the argument they are making. Another is the Appeal to Authority, which claims something to be true because a ‘so-called’ authority said regardless of the base reasoning being correct or not.

There’s the false dichotomy, which incorrectly portrays a situation as black and white and lacks nuance. Then there’s the Domino Theory, which works by taking an argument from a sensible moderate place and moving it to an extreme.

There’s dozens of fallacies that can be used to make a weak argument sound more impressive than it is.

It’s important to recognize when they are being used in the information era. Especially when it comes to COVID and the vaccine rollout, you will notice more and more how people will use these fallacies to try and skew a conversation in their favour.

That’s why it is so important to be sure you are media literate and do your own independent research looking at multiple sources.

If you read something or hear something, whether it comes from Facebook or something your mom said in a phone call, think critically about the information you are receiving.

Who is saying it? Why are they saying? What is their potential agenda? Do they use a fallacy in their argument?

We’re not saying to become a conspiracy theorist and throw away your phone, for fear of being poisoned by narratives and bias. But as more information becomes more readily available, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.

It’s important to digest information in a responsible way, to form your own opinions on the information presented, rather than just continue to listen to a potential echo chamber of bias.

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