All logical arguments can be defeated by the simple refusal to reason logically.

Friday, 3:14 A.M. Vilnius. Insomnia.

Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone about politics, religion, business, or which basketball team is the best? If so, you have probably experienced how irrational people can be about their opinions. Most of the time, a good argument can end a discussion in seconds.

I love being on a receiving end of a well-designed argument, especially if I am wrong about the subject. It is satisfying to me to understand why I was wrong so that I can learn and not be wrong anymore!

However, people tend to be lazy when designing their arguments and fall into the logical fallacy space. I think it is essential to understand what precisely Logical Fallacy is and learn how to avoid using it or identify when someone else is trying to apply one.

"A logical fallacy is a false statement that weakens an argument by distorting an issue, drawing false conclusions, misusing evidence, or misusing language."

(Dave Kemper et al., Fusion: Integrated Reading and Writing. Cengage, 2015)

Learning about arguments and strong reasoning will allow you to spot and deconstruct the false propositions that might seem reasonable at first glance. It will also allow you to filter out the deceitful information without influencing your decisions.

Let me present the list of the five most commonly used logical fallacies in the business world.

1. The appeal to authority

Proposition backed up by an authority figure can be a compelling addition to a real argument. Just because someone who is in an "authority" said so should not cloud your logical reasoning for a specific situation.

Please find an example:

Although we did not reach our goals last year, we should push forward using the same strategy because our advisor says this is the best approach.

Even if the advisor himself is the expert in the field, you should hear all deductive reasons backing up this claim before blindly agreeing to the proposition. It is easy to cheat our way out of responsibility by hiding behind someone else's arguments.

2. Poisoning the well

Irrelevant adverse information about a person is preemptive to an audience to discredit or ridicule something the target has to offer.

Example:

Before we consider giving the manager's position to Bob, remember that he is an introvert and divorced, he should not work with people.

That honestly has nothing to do with Bob's skill set as a manager, nor it has something to do with how he might handle the position. However, our brains are programmed in such a way that poisoning the well is actually extremely effective.

3. The Hasty Generalization Fallacy

This is the type of fallacy when someone generalizes an experience from examples, and not from evidence. In other words, one jumps to hasty conclusions and validates proposition with some, but not enough evidence to back it up. "Everyone" and "Always" is the main keywords usually used to construct them (mostly used by marketers ;))

Example:

I talked with a few people, and they LOVED my idea. It is the reason why we must implement it ASAP!

When you hear an argument like that, consider checking more sources. The experience of one person shouldn't be acceptable to determine a group's behavior.

4. Straw man

An intentionally misinterpreted proposition that is set up because it's easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument. It is a strategy to set-up someone's position as a superficially similar but different to knock it down, thus creating an illusion of victory.

There is an example:

- Person A: I think we should hire a professional salesperson to lead the sales process in this market.

- Person B: You're saying that we should throw our money on an external resource? Why can't you do that yourself? Don't you believe in our product? You should read more sales books.

Nobody said that person A does not believe in the product, nor he wants to throw money away. It is a logical fallacy to twist and distort a position in an effort to make the other party seem worse than they really are.

5. The Bandwagon Fallacy

It is based on the assumption that the opinion of the group is always valid. Just because a majority of people think the proposition is true, doesn't magically make it accurate. It is not enough to validate an argument, especially when there is no information whether or not the group validating the argument is qualified enough to do so. Even then, we have to look at additional contrary evidence.

Example:

I just read that the majority of marketers believe that spending money on Facebook ads generates the most significant ROI. We should do the same!

While the fact itself that spending money on Facebook ads generates, the most significant ROI might be real, that does not mean that we should blindly follow the opinion of the masses or instantly agree with the person proposing the argument without any clear reasoning. There are a lot of dynamic variables to take into account - we might be operating in a different market than the majority of marketers, our target audience might not be reachable via Facebook, etc.

And by the way...

Just because somebody is using a logical fallacy doesn't mean they're wrong about their point. It just means that they are concluding at that point in a logically flawed way, and they need to revise their argumentation. It also does not mean they're doing this intentionally; the one can regularly be using the logical fallacies without even realizing that.

The goal of this article is to show how impactful logical fallacies can be and invite you to spend at least a fraction of a second more, before you instantly agree with someone, or before you spit out another hasty argument.

Conclusion:

Think for Yourself, Don't Be Sheep.