But what really makes me regret getting involved with this type of stuff is the way most people argue. They will do whatever it takes to sound like they won and to make sure the other person is in the wrong. Such intellectual sins occur when people use Logical Fallacies.Logical Fallacies are when people make arguments that aren't actually logical to begin with or are just plain irrelevant. I'll go ahead and just list some of my "favorites" of these:
Hypocrisy: Like it or not people, hypocrisy isn't even a real thing, much less an actual argument. It's just the concept of inconsistency with someone in what they say verses what they do.
But what reasonable person cares what someone does, when in the middle of a debate? Just because someone doesn't live up to their own rules doesn't magically refute the rules.
In fact, Adolf Hitler can say that stealing is evil, and it still would be.
So bottom line, try actually listening to the substance of the argument, and set aside the arguer's moral state. That involves a separate discussion for another time.
This should be obvious to people, but it isn't.
Fallacy of Origin: Similar to hypocrisy, the origin of something, especially an idea, doesn't magically discredit the said thing.
for example, (and this could be really bad history but just bare with me) Hitler supposedly was the first to conceive of the idea of interstate highways.
So interstate highways must be evil, because they came from Hitler...
I need not say more.
Fallacy of Personal Experience: Now for this one i'll give people a break. The issue with this argument is much less obvious, as it certainly was for myself for the longest time.
It's basically the whole "You've never known what it's like to '....' so you don't have a say in this issue."
But lets sit back and consistently follow all the way through with this idea...
In the end, we're are left with nobody being able to speak about anything that they aren't involved in whatsoever, and the whole idea of discussion and debate can basically be forgotten.
However, it's not simply that this way of thinking is a bad idea... It's a contradiction to begin with.
Think about it; the whole "you haven't walked in my shoes, so you don't know what '....' is like!" trips on its own foot, by saying that someone hasn't walked in your shoes, you've put yourself in that same position, because you haven't walked in their shoes. If you haven't walked in their shoes, how can you possibly know that they haven't walked in yours?
Bottom line; people on both sides really need to stop referring to these logical fallacies, as do myself. Lets get to actually settling the issues themselves. That my friends, is logical...
...So please, STAHP!!!
