Are You Logical?
Think about the last time you found out that you had been believing something (regardless of how important or unimportant) that turned out to be false. Now think about how firmly you held that belief. On a scale of 1-10, how strong was the belief? Finally, what were the reasons you held that belief? Did it turn out later than some of those reasons were bad reasons? Thinking along these lines can help clarify where things can go wrong when forming beliefs. One of those causes is irrational thinking (i.e. – illogical reasoning).
Human beings are naturally prone to making mistakes. This includes mistakes, both large and small, in the areas of cognition and rationality (i.e. “thinking and reasoning”). Logically fallacious reasoning and cognitive biases are extremely common but with a little effort we can push back against them and “get better at thinking”. Below you will find the first of a serious of multiple choice logical “quizzes” I have created in order to assist the world toward that end. If these exercises help you, I am happier that much more!
Logic Test I
Results
You’re logical! Good job!
Oops! It looks like you have some brushing up to do. Work on your logical fallacy knowledge and try again next time!
#1. “I saw a weird unknown object in the sky last night. It must have been an alien from another planet because nobody has proven it to be false!”
#2. “My neighbor said 2+2=4, but he’s a jerk. So he must be wrong.”
#3. “Everyone I know is telling me Elvis is still alive. So they must be right!”
#4. “I know someone who claims to be an expert in astrology. They studied for many years and said astrology has been proven true. So it must be true.”
#5. “People are either for me or against me.”
#6. “A friend and I were debating about the best movie of all time but then she started debating about the best actress of all time.”
#7. “I can’t possibly imagine how these footprints are from a human. So, they must have come from Bigfoot.”
#8. “Every time I sneeze at night, I see a shooting star in the sky. It must be that sneezes cause shooting stars.”
#9. “All murderers should go to prison, except Joe because he had a bad home life.”
#10. “My friend said we should put more money into education. I can’t believe he would support cutting military spending like that!”
#11. “My friend got sick and I prayed for her to get better. When she recovered I knew it must have been God because no one has proven it false.”
#12. “My neighbor said the bible makes false and illogical claims, but he’s not a nice person. So he must be wrong.”
#13. “Everyone around me says the bible is the word of God. So they must be telling the truth. It must be true.”
#14. “There is a group of men who claim to be experts on miracles. They said miracles have happened. So miracles must have happened because they wouldn’t lie. They are experts.”
#15. “Jesus either rose from the dead or he was a liar.”
#16. “I was debating with someone about my religious beliefs and then I told them how I was offended because they were hurting my feelings.”
#17. “I can’t see how life could have come from non-life. So God must have done it.”
#18. “We prayed and my friend got better. That means our prayers caused a miracle.”
#19. “Everything that exists must have a cause, except God.”
#20. “A man said the bible has errors in it. I can’t believe he thinks the whole thing is just made up!”
Definitions
- Ad Hominem (Abusive) – Attacking a person who is making the argument rather than the argument itself, when the attack on the person is totally irrelevant to the argument.
- Post Hoc Fallacy – Claiming that because event Y came after event X, event Y must have been caused by event X. This fallacy is also called Post Hoc Ergo Proper Hoc (after this, therefore because of this).
- Straw Man – Misrepresenting a person’s argument and then attacking that misrepresented version of the argument, instead of the actual argument that was made.
- Red Herring – Attempting to direct the topic of the argument to a different issue or topic.
- Ad Verecundium (Argument from False Authority) – When a person making a claim appeals to a person who is being presented as an expert when in fact said person is not an expert in the relevant field that is being debated.
- Argument from Ignorance – Assuming an argument is true based merely upon the perception that it has not been proven false or due to the perceived lack of evidence to the contrary.
- Argument from Personal Incredulity – Arguing that because you can’t or refuse to believe something, it must not be true, must be improbable, or the argument must be flawed.
- Begging The Question – A form of circular reasoning where the conclusion of the argument is assumed in one of the premises.
- False Dichotomy (False Dilemma) – When only two or more choices are presented yet more choices exist, or where a spectrum of choices exist between two extremes.
- Special Pleading – Applying standards or principles to a person, people, or set of circumstances while making oneself, or a specific set of circumstances, exempt from said critical standard, without proper or critical justification.
- Ad Baculum (Appeal to Force) – When force, coercion, or a threat of force is used in place of a reason to justify a given conclusion.
- Genetic Fallacy – Basing the truth claim of an argument on the origin of it’s claims or premises.
Reference:
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/search
https://www.palomar.edu/users/bthompson/Table%20of%20Fallacies.html
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