noun, plural fallacies.
1.
a deceptive, misleading, or false notion, belief, etc.:
That the world is flat was at one time a popular fallacy.
2.
a misleading or unsound argument.
3.
deceptive, misleading, or false nature; erroneousness.
4.
Logic. any of various types of erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.
5.
This year I wanted to pick out a language for my freshman year of high school. My mom wanted me to take Spanish and I didn’t like the way it sounded. I did a little research and decided on German, trying to take advantage of an extended language program and learn a language that I might be passionate about. My mom didn’t like that idea because of various reasons but the weirdest was, “I don’t want you to learn about a culture that the most evil man ever was born.” I immediately recognized this as a fallacy. This is exactly a form of an unsound argument.
To a young student or ignorant adult, fallacies can go unnoticeable and detected. To a keen, trained observer, fallacies are as eye-catching as a good baseball catcher playing with eyes. Sometimes in school and outside of school we catch each other if someone is using a fallacy. A teacher might say, “I’m right because I’m the teacher” we will always catch it and make them rue the day they thought they could use a fallacy in our classroom.
I think that debates are so hard because if people are so convinced of their side then there is really nothing you can do to try to change their opinion. Another reason is because sometimes there is no answer to questions. Is there a god? Is evolution real? Is the answer to life, the universe, and everything 42? Maybe, probably and yes. Some people are so entrenched in their beliefs that they will do anything to protect them. In the Ken Ham and Bill Nye debate, Ken Ham makes a point that, “No one can go back in time and witness the arc being built.” This makes both of their arguments invalid because no one can prove that an event did or didn’t happen.
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