A fallacy is a defective argument that has a lot of loopholes in it. The argument can be invalid or weak. It means that the argument does not have a strong premise and there are not any premises to back up the conclusion of the argument. A fallacy can appeal to emotion or have a false dilemma. The argument is bias as it is based on the speaker or writer’s opinion with a bad conclusion.
A real world example would be the sales people that work in the booths that are located in the middle of the mall. I distinctively recall one incident with a sales person at one of those booths. I think it was one of those nail or beauty booths. The sales person stopped me and asked him if I wanted to try their products. I said sure since I had a lot of time to spare anyways. He grabbed my hand and started to buff my nails with one of the products that he was trying to sell. He said, “it is one of the best nail buffers you will ever use in your life, your nails will have shine like a diamond” I did not believe him so after the test I kind of smiled and walked away telling him I will come back next time to get it. The nail buffer was almost twenty dollars, no way am I going to buy that.
This fallacy lies under bad appeal to authority. The sales guy also has to know a lot about the product that they are selling and many consumers will buy into what he says. What he said was very doubtful because I do not know what his point of view is with nail buffers. It can be the only nail buffer he has ever tried so he thinks it is the best even though there is a lot of nail buffers out in the world that could be better. Also nails cannot shine like a diamond no matter how hard you try to buff the nail. Of course there are people that will believe the salesman but I did not and walked away.
Hello Cyynitthia!
ReplyDeleteBefore I read this blog I was unsure about the exact meaning of a fallacy. However, after reading it I know exactly what it is! You explained what a fallacy was better than the book did! Haha. You're example was also very helpful because it affirmed the meaning of the word. Because for all you know, the sales guy does not even know what other kinds of nail buffers there are out in the world! So who is he to say his product is the BEST? Anyways, good post and also very helpful! Keep up the good work! =)
Hello!
ReplyDeleteGreat example of a fallacy. Your post was very easy to read and understand. I did my discussion on fallacies as well about commercials and advertisements that try to sell us their products using bad appeal to authority, same one that you had chosen to write about.
You explained how the guy at the booth try to sell you a nail buffer for twenty dollars! Who is he that we could trust to buy a nail buffer for such a price? There are nail buffers sold at a drug store for like two dollars that could probably buff the same as that one.
Great example and a great post! I enjoyed reading it!
hey,what great example of a fallacy. your post was understandable and concise. the discussion that you just posted made more sense than what i have posted on my blog. you clearly explained it really well and described the real meaning of fallacy. also how fallacy is use in our everyday life that we never notice before. using the example like how many sellers use their knowledge to convince customer like us, is clever and yet deceitful. keep up the good work so i could keep commenting you. later!
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