In each of the following exercises, identify the informal fallacy that is commit

Question

In each of the following exercises, identify the informal fallacy that is committed, and explain why each is an example of that fallacy. (1 pt. each) 1. “The surgeon general says that smoking is linked to cancer. But I know lots of people who smoke and don’t have cancer. So, it easy to see that it is false that everyone who smokes will get cancer. Thus, the surgeon general is just wrong.” 2. We either nuke that country, or we continually deal with the terrorist attacks against our people all over the world. 3. “All the reports of alien abductions come from people of exceptionally low intelligence. This is further supported by the fact that they make claims about alien abductions.” 4. That evolutionary principle works at the population level, so it affects each and every member of that species. 5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. says: “I only drink Budweiser.” [Of course, this is before he dropped their endorsement.] 6. “Introducing the Lexus HS 250h: The World’s Only Dedicated Luxury Hybrid.” (Found on the Lexus website.) 7. Child: “Why do I have to do it?” Mother: “You will not be happy if you don’t!” 8. Of course aliens exist. There is no evidence that they don’t exist! 9. “GatorAde—is it in you?” 10. “No one has ever shown me any evidence for evolution. Therefore, it must be false.” 11. “Of course we should invade Austria. Everyone thinks so!” 12. “These diamonds would really set you apart. Your family would be so jealous. You should get them!” 13. “All of the evidence points to a correlation between eating fast food and obesity. You should probably not eat very much of that, if any.” 14. “You know you shouldn’t believe your brother about those investments. He is the most self-centered, arrogant jerk on the planet.” 15. “I can’t believe my pastor that adultery is really all that bad. I mean, he had an affair for goodness sake!” 16. “Oh, honey, we should help that man. Because… well, just look at him. He’s so sad and lonely. I bet he could use some money.” 17. “Neil DeGrasse Tyson, a well-respected physicist, says that soil must have a certain amount of acidity to grow orchids. So, that’s what I believe, too.” 18. “My Aunt Tilley, a noted horticulturist, says that the universe is around 13 billion years old. So, that’s what I believe, too.” 19. “Of course scientists are right about the age of the universe! They’re scientists for crying out loud!” 20. “The current administration wants to cut funding for military airplanes. But this is a wonton disregard for national security. Anyone who cares about the safety of our country should be outraged.” 21. Jury Foreperson: “Listen people, we’ve been here for a month. Do you want to spend another month here? Let’s find him guilty of the crime already!” 22. Lawyer: “That guy’s a rapist. Why should you believe anything he says?” 23. Lawyer: “My client is the victim of incest himself. How can you convict him of this crime of incest?” 24. “My doctor says the first test showed no cancer. So, I’m cancer-free!” 25. Your parents say: “Einstein’s theory of special relativity is a load of nonsense.” II. Look through the Wikipedia entry, "List of Cognitive Biases," and answer the following questions. (25 total pts.) List of Cognitive Biases - Wikipedia 1. Choose two biases, one from the "Social biases" section and one from the "Memory errors and biases" section. Explain both biases and two examples, either from your own life or from popular culture or media where these biases may explain someone's behavior. (150-300 words; 15 pts.) 2. Develop a strategy for helping people avoid these fallacies. What would you recommend? Would you change education? Would you change the law? Would you require more regulation over advertising and product information? If so, how would you know how much regulation would help?

Explanation / Answer

1. This is an example of hasty generalization. It states that the person knows a lot of people who smoke and not have cancer. But that doesn't emphasize that the person is looking at a sizeable data. Thus, the person mght be evaluating or observing a very few cases and generalizing that to be representing the whole phenomena.

2. This can be aresult of Appeal to Force. It is using a kind of force or threat to support its conclusion.

3. This is attacking the reputation of a particular group of people who belive that alien abductions are true. It is called ad hominem i.e. attacking the person. This ad Hominem attack is called as abusive attack as t is attacking/ questioning the intelligence of the specific category of people who belive in alien abductions.

4. This may be resulting from ad Ignorantiam/ argument because of ignorance. In this, just because the accuracy of the statement canot be tested sufficiently or just because it cannot be proven false, it is considered to be true.

5. This is circumstantial ad Hominem/ circumstantial argument against the person unlike statement no. 3 mentioned above which was abusive ad Hominem. Here the person committing this fallacy has not been following the truth but is drawing conclusion on the basis of some other not so related facts.

7. this is the fallacy of Irrelevant Conclusion/ Ignoratio Elanchi. Here the conclusion is irrelevant to the issue/ question being discussed.

14. Abusive ad Hominem. This questions the reputation of a person.

17. This is an example of Argument by Authority or Argumentum ad Verecundiam. Here, the opinion of a specialist is considered to be valuable and trustworthy because the opinion falls in that person's area of expertise.

18. This is an example of Argument by Authority or Argumentum ad Verecundiam. Here, the opinion of a specialist is considered to be valuable and trustworthy because the opinion falls in that person's area of expertise.

II. 1. Authority Bias (type of social bias): This is a bias where an individual tends to strongly believe in the opinion of an authoritative figure when the opinion is not even related to the authority's area of expertise. E.g. Roger Federer is an authority figure in the world of Tennis. If he says that listening to Indian Classical music is a waste of time as it is not entertaining, just because of his authority in Tennis I may get influenced by his opinion and end up thinking that what he says stands true universally. Egocentric Bias (Type of Memory errors and Biases): This is a bias wherein one remembers his/ her past in a self-exaggerating way. One tends to exaggerate own performance than it really was in this type of a bias. E.g. I may boast and overhype about securing first class in my high school examnation. However in the reality, there might be thousands of students who might have secured first class along with me in that year.

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