Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan's Vulcan Logic Course Episode 4: Fallacy Friday

Hello this is logic teacher Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan and welcome to Fallacy Friday!
Appeal to Majority (Argumentum ad Populum) (a.k.a. Appeal to the People or Appeal to Popularity)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer uses popular or even majority opinion to prop up their conclusion.  This is fallacious because popular or majority opinion does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct, especially since there are actually times when the majority is wrong.

Sample: "Just about everybody loves Halo and that is proven by the fact that Halo gets the "Game of the Year" award.  That means that Halo is glorious."

The fact that the majority of people like Halo or that Halo gets a "Game of the Year" award does not necessarily prove that Halo is a good game.  Halo is still a known form of military propaganda.

Appeal to Numbers (Argumentum ad Numerum)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer uses larger numbers to support their conclusion.  This is fallacious because bigger numbers does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "You have to admit that Halo is a better video game than Star Fox because it is proven by the fact that Halo has a lot more sales than Star Fox.  Just look at the sales of Halo as compared with those of Star Fox."

The fact that Halo has many more sales than Star Fox does not necessarily prove that Halo is a better game than Star Fox.

Appeal to Authority (Argumentum ad Verecundiam)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer uses their own authority and/or someone else's authority to exempt their conclusion from any criticism or scrutiny.  This is fallacious because the stated authority does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "The most acclaimed game reviewers all agree that Halo is the best game ever, so that proves that Halo is the best game ever made."

The fact that top game critics praise Halo does not necessarily prove that Halo is a great game because in reality it is a dangerous game that bamboozles people into going to war.

Accident

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer applies a general rule to an atypical specific case to which it does not apply.  This is fallacious because applying a general rule to an atypical specific case to which it does not apply does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "You should respect and be nice to people, if I say that Star Fox turns people into furverts and should be banned in the name of Halo, then you should respect me and be nice to me.."

The Halo goon is applying a general rule of respecting and being nice to people with different opinions to a specific case in which he is trying to censor a video game that he hates just for inspiring a people that he hates.  Saying that you should respect a bigot like that furry-phobic Halo goon is fundamentally incorrect.

Ad Hoc Reasoning

Definition: A logical fallacy in which the arguer after his argument has been defeated looks for things that they could use to make their beaten argument appear valid.  The is fallacious because making a defeated premise appear valid does not change the fact that it is already invalidated.

Sample: "The story of Halo is deep and is in great detail, you are missing out on the story of Halo that still proves that Halo is the better than Star Trek.  Please read the great story of Halo in Halo books and on Halo websites."

The Halo goon was desperately trying to claim that the story of Halo disproves the fact that Halo is a colossal gaming advertisement for the war machine.

Slippery Slope (a.k.a. Camel's Nose)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer states that one  little thing that disagrees with them will inevitably set off a chain reaction leading to disaster.  This is fallacious because such chain reactions from taking a "first step" that disagrees with them are unlikely.

Sample: "All criticism of Halo must stop.  If you keep bashing Halo, then the furries will start yiffing in public.  If the furverts yiff in public places, then we will become more vulnerable and eventually we will be wiped out by enemies.  And then it will be a Stalinist totalitarian dictatorship.  Is that what you want?"

The said chain reaction that the Halo goon had predicted will never happen since it is impossible anyway.  It is just a desperate bid by the Halo goon to silence the uncomfortable truth about Halo.

Hasty Generalization

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer draws a general conclusion from atypical specific cases.  This is fallacious because the general conclusion does not necessarily apply to specific cases.

Sample: "Everybody who wants to save Earth from attack by otherworldly enemies; including from Drej, all love Halo."

The Halo goon failed to recognize that there are some people who are against the concept of spaceships destroying Earth are also against Halo.

Prejudicial Language

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer uses favorable terns for what they like and unfavorable terms for what they dislike to put moral goodness to their conclusion.  This is fallacious because using good terms for one's likes and bad terms for one's dislikes does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "Patriotic defenders of Planet Earth all agree that Halo is the bomb, only Star Fox furry NOOBS disagree."

The Halo goon claim about how defenders of our planet should like Halo and that only Star Fox-loving furries hate it is quite derogatory and also based on hasty generalization and does not prove at all that Halo is a great game.

Appeal to Tradition (Argumentum ad Antiquaintium)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer states that their conclusion is correct because it has lasted for so long.  This is fallacious because the fact that the conclusion has lasted for generations does not necessarily prove it correct.

Sample: "People have always had wars for millenia, so war will be the answer and Halo is a great blueprint for our future."

The fact that war has gone on for many centuries does not necessarily mean that war has to continue into the far future.  And it definitely does not prove that Halo is a good blueprint of our future since it is clearly not.

Appeal to Pity (Argumentum ad Misericordiam)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer tells the persuadee of their pitiful state in an effort to get them to accept the conclusion.  This is fallacious Because the pitiful state of the arguer does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "Stop telling me about how harmful you think Halo is; it is not true and I had the flu last month and now have a bed bug infestation, Halo is the best."

The pitiful state of the Halo goon having the flu in the prior month and having bed bugs does not necessarily prove that Halo is the best.

Appeal to Fear

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer uses fear to get the persuadee to accept the conclusion.  This is fallacious because using fear does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "There is a high terror alert, so if you want to survive that terror alert, then support the military industrial complex and you must play Halo."

The Halo goon was using the fear of terrorism to justify supporting the war machine and that his persuadee must play Halo.

Appeal to Consequences (Argumentun ad Consequentiam)

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer states that there will be unfavorable consequences to accepting a certain position that disagrees with them.  This is fallacious because the said consequences are not necessarily the same as the actual consequences of accepting the position that the arguer disagrees with.

Sample: "You better like Halo or you are an agent of otherworldly invaders."

The said consequences of helping alien invaders that is predicted by the Halo goon are certainly not the same as the actual harmless and helpful result of not liking Halo.

Appeal to Force (Argumetum ad Baculum)
meaning argument of the "stick" or the "CUDGEL"!

Definition: An informal logical fallacy in which the arguer threatens the persuadee that unpleasant consequences will follow if they disagree with the conclusion.  This is fallacious because the threat of force does not necessarily prove the conclusion to be correct.

Sample: "Star Fox Furry, I order you to stop liking Star Fox and switch to Halo, and stop being a furvert you NOOB!  If you disobey me, I will pour lighter fluid in your bed and have you yiff in lighter fluid!"

The Halo goon's threat of pouring lighter fluid in a furry's bed does not necessarily prove that Halo is good or that Star Fox is bad.

Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan's Vulcan Logic Course Episode 3: Moving the Goalposts!

Hello this is logic teacher Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan and welcome to another episode in my Vulcan Logic Course.  Previously I talked about the Halo Empire's top two favorite types of logical fallacies which are the Ad Hominem and the Straw Man.  In this post I will be talking about a form of CHEATING known as Moving the Goalposts!

Definition: A logical fallacy that changes the standards of proof once their opponent has met the original standards of proof to claim that their opponent has not proven anything.  This is not only fallacious; it is a form of CHEATING, and therefore unfair.

Sample: "You have been educating me on logical fallacies but that should not apply to science fiction.  So you have not proven that Halo is bad by pointing out my so-called fallacies or by showing me a video about its supposed ties to the Pentagon."

A Halo goon had clearly lost the debate with his Star Trek opponent so in a desparate bid to claim victory, the Halo goon suddenly changed the standards of proof to claim that their opponet did not prove anything when in fact they did.

Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan's Vulcan Logice Course Episode 2: BEWARE of the Straw Man

Hello this is logician Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan and welcome to another episode of my Vulcan logic course.  Lat time I talked about the Personal Attack Fallacy in all of its forms and in this post I will be talking about the Straw Man Fallacy.  The Straw Man is the second most popular logical fallacy among Halo goons after Argumentum ad Hominem.

Definition: An informal logical fallacy that distorts and/or oversimplifies and opponent's position and/or argument and later claims to heroically beat their opponent in a debate.  This is fallacious because distorting things does not constitute addressing one's opponent's points as they were intended to be discussed.

Sample: "Avatar is anti-human race and pro-aliens while Halo is rightfully pro-human race.  Loving Avatar and hating Halo is like us wanting to be invaded by otherworldly enemies, and I will not allow that to happen as long as we can fight."

As you can see the Halo goon totally distorted the meaning of James Cameron's Avatar to the hilt just to justify his sick notion that Halo is glorious.  He did not address a single point that his opponent made as to why Avatar is better than Halo up front, he chose to twist that rational argument to death.

Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan's Vulcan Logic Course Episode 1: The Personal Attack Fallacy

Hello, this is Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan for the first post in my excellent Vulcan Logic Course about the various types of logical fallacies used by Halo goons to defend the Halo Empire against rational criticism.  The topic of this post will have to be the Personal Attack Fallacy (Argumentum ad Hominem) because it is the Halo goons' all-tine number one favorite logical fallacy to use when faced with criticism of their beloved "game of the year" Halo.

Ad Hominem is a family of logical fallacies that involve personal attacks against their opponent and without addressing even a single point that their opponent has made.  This is fallacious because personal attacks against one's opponent do not constitute addressing their actual points.  This particular type of logical fallacy is so popular with Halo goons since they just about have no good arguments of their own and are desperate to promote their sick cause.

Ad Hominem Abusive

Definition: The second arguer heaps verbal attacks such as name-calling and profanity upon the first arguer without addressing their points.

Sample: "Halo is the Game of the Year and Star Fox yiffs.  I don't care what you have to say you Star Trek nerd, go play your fruity tendo games for all I care!"

Proof: The Halo goon heaped verbal attacks upon their opponent and as you can notice they did not address even a single point made by their opponent.

Ad Hominem Circumstantial

Definition: The second arguer attacks the circumstances of the first arguer without addressing their points.

Sample: "Of course you don't like Halo because you are a wussy furvert."

Proof: The Halo goon was attacking the fact that their opponent was a furry and against did not address a single point that they made.

Poisoning the Well

Definition: A form of ad hominem circumstantial in which the second arguer presents unfavorable information (true or false) about the first arguer to discredit anything that they may say.

Sample: "I don't care what you have to say since you are anti-patriotic and anti-American."

Proof: The Halo goon was presenting unfavorable information about their opponent in a desperate bid to defend Halo; and in this particular case, the unfavorable information was largely false.

Ad Hominem Tu Quoque

Definition: The second arguer tries to make the first arguer appear hypocritical to discredit anything that they say.

Sample: "You are making a stance that I should not attack Star Trek, but you say bad things about Halo all of the time."

Proof: The Halo goon was making their opponent appear far more hypocritical than they actually are and did not address even a single point that was made about Halo being war propaganda.

I will make more posts in this Vulcan Logic Course series and next time I will be talking about Halo's second favorite logical fallacy of all time, the Straw Man Fallacy.  If you are reading this post, please never ever use any ad hominem fallacies or else I will not take you seriously.

April Fool's Day

Hello, this is Gene Roddenberry's #1 Fan and today is April Fool's Day!  Today I am going to tell a funny fan fiction story of an anti-Halo nature of course.  This will be partly inspired by the conclusion of the Star Trek TOS Episode "The Way To Eden" in which the plants on the Eden planet were made of acid.  I call those acid plants "Halo Plants" and the acid flowers that burned Chekhov "Halo Flowers".  The fruit on that Eden planet is called "Titan AE Fruit" since it is so poisonous that it kills you with only one bite into it.  I HATE Titan AE for a variety of reasons, one of which is the needless destruction of Earth.  Gene Roddenberry would have hated Titan AE too.

Our story opens when Pavel Chekhov is on a pier getting aroused by a flashy Colo Claw Fish.  Chekhov and the Colo Claw have a conversation since they are friends.  The Colo Claw asked, "Chekhov, You and Scotty both crack me up, but I want to know, how is that your Star Trek is able to stand up and not crumble in the face of Halo which is a far more powerful adversary?  I sense terrible readings in which you might need help in order to carry on."  Chekhov answered, "We have allies such as Star Fox who help us when things get really drastic, we are very inclusive and that helps us to reach out for help when we need it.  Yes something terrible is happening to us, you got that one right.  Even as we speak, Star Fox is helping us right now."  The Colo Claw replied with concern, "Chekhov, I still have a really bad feeling about this, even with help from allies like Star Fox, you are still getting hammered by the battle hardened cosmic armadas of the Halo Empire.  Maybe Star Wars can assist, which would probably be your only hope for overthrowing that war-addicted and military-obsessed sci-fi empire known as Halo.  It disgusts me that Halo frequently receives the Game Of The Year Award."  Chekhov responded, "Colo, Star Trek and Star Wars have a long history of hating each other, I am not sure that will work out.  At times, Star Wars has given Star Trek a hard time, frequently so."  The Colo Claw stated, "I know of the Star Trek and Star Wars rivalry, but the more I think about it, the more frivolous and silly it becomes.  I know that this will be hard on you guys, but you got to hear me out.  The real enemy of Star Trek is not Star Wars, it is Halo which threatens to militarize the entire space genre, I am calling for Star Peace."  Chekhov added, "Colo Claw, you are right and have a good point, the Star Trek council will consider your proposal of joining forces with Star Wars and will probably rule in your favor due to the fact that Halo is breathing down our necks."  The Colo Claw said, "Please contact the Star Trek high council and inform them of my proposal so that they can vote on it as soon as possible."  Chekhov called the Star Trek high council to inform them of a Colo Claw Fish's proposal for peace between Star Trek and Star Wars in the face of the Halo wrath.

Meanwhile, I mysterious figure carried a vase filled with peculiar yellow flowers as he approached Chekhov on the pier.  The guy did not say a word as he delivered the flowers to Chekhov.  The guy set the flowers down and said, "Mr Chekhov, I have a special delivery for you.  I am giving these flowers to you as a gift."  Chekhov said, "That is generous, thanks."  Chekhov waited for the guy to leave sight before looking at the flowers.

One the mysterious man was out of sight, Chekhov said, "Colo Claw, someone gave me a vase with flowers, I would like your feedback."  The Colo Claw was suspicious of the nature of the delivery and said, "Chekhov, the guy who gave them to you was malicious, I heard it in his voice that he was hiding his real intentions.  They smell like acidic Halo plants to me.  Please exercise caution."  Checkov said, "I will be careful and look for any tags on the vase first."  Chekhov then found a string around the neck of the vase and saw a card saying "Happy April Fool's Day You Acorn Head".  Chekhov said, "Colo Claw, you are probably right, I read a card that it wished me April Fool's Day and called me an "acorn head"."  The Colo Claw replied, "Chekhov, if that is the case, do not touch the flowers, they are Halo Flowers and will burn you is you touch them.  My suspicions have been confirmed, that is nothing more than a cruel April Fool's Day prank pulled by a member of the Halo Empire."  Chekhov accidentally touched one of the flowers and screamed, "AHHHH!  That really burned!  I accidentally bumped my hand into one of the Halo Flowers in the vase and it is like fire!  Colo Claw, you are right, these flowers are malevolent.  I will have them beamed to the ship for further examination and saved as evidence of Halo's malicious intent.  Enterprise, I have a vase with Halo Flowers to beam up and take to the lab for further examination and as evidence of Halo's activities."  The Halo Flowers were beamed up and taken to the lab.

The Colo Claw said, "Chekhov, that was very wise to have the Halo Flowers beamed to the Enterprise for further examination and hopefully they will find the DNA of the individual that delivered them to you.  I want peace and that is why I am so against Halo for promoting endless war.  And let's not take any course of action that will lead us to war since that would be exactly what Halo wants."  Chekhov relied, "If Krik can always find a way when so much is at steak, then we shall certainly find a way to avoid war and shut Halo down for good, since war will only feed the Halo Empire and make it stronger."   Chekhov and the Colo Claw Fish continued to have quality time together.