Rhetoric
To be a thinking citizen demands being attuned to logical and statistical fallacies and the propaganda tricks of demagogues.
A rhetorically un-trained citizen is a patsy at the poker table of modern politics.
| Logical Fallacies | Statistical Fallacies | Propaganda Tricks |
|---|---|---|
| Begging the Question | Data Omission | Code words |
| The Straw Man | Correlation and Causation
Confusion |
Manipulative Images |
| The False Dilemma | Misleading aggregate data | Dog whistles |
| Ad hominem | Survey question framing | Wedges |
| Appeal to Emotion:
(spite, fear) |
Cherry picking | Old fashioned bold lies |
| Appeal to Authority | Sampling errors | Camera angles |
| The Red Herring | Composition | |
| Appeal to the Majority | Lighting | |
| Moving the Goal Posts | Testimonials | |
| Fallacy of Composition | Scapegoats | |
| Moral high ground fallacy | ||
| Furtive fallacies | ||
| Hasty generalization/
Converse accident |
||
| Argumentum ad baculum
(might makes right, appeal to consequences) |
||
| Post hoc, ergo propter hoc | ||
| Non sequitur |
A fallacy does not prove a claim false. But its use does undermine it.
Swift quote on lies: falsehood flies and truth comes limping after it.
A lie travels halfway around the world while truth still putting on its shoes.
People remember the lie not so much the truth.