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By Neece
 Today (November 15) is our final look at Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language by Robert J. Gula.
I really wanted to share part of chapter 17 with you. Mr. Gula lists the most important principles to be gleaned from the rest of the book. I highly recommend getting the book and reading it. It has really helped me think more logically. The other thing it’s helped me with is to realize when someone has used a logical fallacy on me. I might not remember the name, but I remember that it is nonsense. It sort of gives me a red flag when someone uses bad logic in an argument. I think that’s pretty invaluable.
So here’s the list of important principles from Robert Gula:
By Neece
 Here at Morgantown Atheists, we want to help you to think more critically. One way to do that is to learn to notice logical fallacies in communication.
We are slowly going through the main logical fallacies, with examples and also with how to refute them. You can use this in all aspects of your life, whether it be science vs. pseudo-science, religion vs. atheism or agnosticism, the daily assault of advertising and consumerism, or simply to put your own belief systems to the test.
This page will have an introduction to each one. Click the title of the fallacy to read the full article.
First, some definitions:
- Logical: Reasoning or capable of reasoning in a clear and consistent manner. Reasonable.
- Fallacy: A deceptive, misleading or false notion or belief. A misleading or unsound argument.
Another thing that is really important as we get started is to keep in…
By Neece
Since we’re talking so much about logical fallacies, Brent found a site called Fallacy Files that handles things in an interesting way. They have something called a Taxonomy of the Logical Fallacies which shows how they are all related to each other. Here is a small version. Click on it to go to the site’s full size image.
After seeing how they are related, you can go to their How To Use page to read a bit more into it. For instance, you can see the logical relationships between them. Also as you get further to the right, you’ll see the colors fade from strong (more general) to faded (more specific).
The color and scheme is arbitrary, by the way, except how they blend. Red are formal fallacies. Blue are informal. Green is Loaded Question, which is not in…
By Neece
 Here are several examples of people trying to use the logical fallacy of Correlation and Causation which is loosely defined as follows: Just because two events occur together does not mean that one caused the other. Or just because two variables have a connection does not automatically imply that one causes the other.
1. From a creationist website:
1. “All crime is a result of sin, and of course there was crime before Charles Darwin promoted evolution, but as the theory increased so did the crime rate. Today Creation is not taught, even as a theory, in our schools, therefore children have nothing to base their morality upon. As God has been removed from the classroom, so all kinds of evil has multiplied on our streets. Remove the Bible and you take away the conscience of the nation. Evolution has absolutely nothing to offer with regards
…
By Neece
 OK, we’ve all seen the ads on TV for some alarm company where some creep is watching an innocent woman or child or both and kicks open their front door in broad daylight. All of a sudden, an alarm shrieks to life, the criminal makes eye contact with his intended victim and runs off.
I can’t tell you how much these ads offend me. First of all, anyone psychotic enough to kick in the door of someone’s home in broad daylight is not going to turn tail and run off just because some alarm goes off. The first thing they are going to do is get hold of their victim to control their movements, that way they can keep them away from any exit or phone.
The next thing they’ll do is bind the victim with something so they can be controlled with minimal effort. So by the time the…
By Neece
 Cherry-Picking is when you count the hits and ignore the misses. It is used when only certain quotes, data, studies or research are used to support an argument while ignoring other valid and credible quotes, data, studies and research. In my personal experience, cherry-picking is rampant in the religious population.
Examples:
When christians speak of the bible, they invariably cherry-pick the parts that support whatever they are trying to get across. Homosexuality is a prime example (leviticus mentions it twice). Of course they don’t mind eating shellfish or wearing a poly-cotton blend shirt, which is expressly forbidden in subsequent chapters. We’ve all dealt with the hypocrisy of the old testament, especially the homosexuality issue. Instead I’m going to share a bit of the new testament, which most people use to show how kind and loving jesus was. I’ll stick to the gospels for this exercise, to make my point:
Here…
By Neece
We’ve begun talking about logical fallacies and different arguments here and at the Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club. So hopefully this will be interesting and helpful to you.
Almost all of us argue or have discussions. But there’s actually a right way and lots of wrong ways to go about it. As an ethical person, I don’t really want to do it wrong because that’s being dishonest and unfair. I am definitely not a debater, which is where people actually use logical fallacies on purpose to win an argument. I don’t really care for debates because they seem forced to me. It’s about winning, not about finding out the truth. I think the main reason I hate arguing is because most people fight dirty. I am sure I’ve done it too, mainly out of ignorance. Now, with the following information, we can argue more logically.
Here is a pretty close…
By Neece
 We had a good meeting at the Blue Moose! Thanks for attending, everyone. We had about 10 people. 
We talked about logical fallacies and socialized a bit. Please email the information that you shared to Neece so that I can post it to share with everyone. I’ll be posting the different fallacies as I get them.
September Topic of the Evening: Your Favorite Logical Fallacy
We all chose a logical fallacy and talked a bit about it.
So, for this meeting:
- bring your logical fallacy
- an explanation of what it is
- several examples to share with us
- If someone uses that fallacy on you, how would you refute it?
- Bring a legible copy of your notes for us to post on this site after the meeting, to share with everyone. Even better, send a companion email to Neece before the meeting so
…
By Neece
I have a treat for you. The other day I posted a horrid creationism video by John Morris Pendleton and suggested that we practice pointing out logical fallacies by refuting the lies and nonsense he was spewing forth. But I could barely handle watching the video myself, never mind muddle through it point by point, so I’m sure it’s similar for you.
Still, I think there’s validity to refuting such arguments as practice. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 39% of Americans say they believe in the theory of evolution, while 1/4 say they do not believe in the theory.
Lucky for us, Brent told me about a set of videos that go through Pendleton’s step by step and refute them. How awesome!
Here is the first one of 4. (about 10 minutes long):
For the rest of the videos, click…
By Neece
Here is a video sent to me by an atheist who asked for help in refuting it. It was sent to him by an “arrogant christian”. I’ll warn you, it’s almost 27 minutes long and incredibly irritating to watch. But I’m sharing it with you because we are working on logical fallacies for our next meeting, as well as reading Nonsense by Robert Gula for the Book Club.
It would be awesome if we all could comment or email Neece with refutations against all the lies and logical fallacies used. If you send in an email, I’ll post it to share with everyone. Or comment below and we can all add to it little by little.
Cross-posted from Heaving Dead Cats
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Today (November 15) is our final look at Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language
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