Thinking

Collection of Fallacies

Collection of Fallacies

Irrelevant thinking is arguing a point with issues that will distract or move away from the issue at hand. This way of thinking is used in court cases to swap the option of the jury. In the political field they use the tactic help quell any problems that might have occurred during their time in office. And even at in personal life it’s used to redirect arguments back on the other person. In critical thinking you have to more or less think about what you are going to say in the event that they person or group you are addressing will have a rebuttal that will swap away from your main point. This is of great importance if you don’t want to be caught on the offensive now trying to defend your self. A good tool is writing down possible the purpose of your option, what brought on your option, what you hope to accomplish, possible out comes and alternatives and any objection you foresee. An example in the use of irrelevant thinking is Targets attempt to pull future Disney DVD releases from the stores because of Targets objections of Disney selling there movies online through Apples successful iTunes store. While this problem was solved it didn’t stop the Targets President Gregg Steinhafel from sending letters to every Hollywood studio warning them about undercutting the wholesale price of DVDs by giving online services a better deal on digital offerings. Excerpts from the letter read

"Target cannot be expected simply to accept that risk and continue to do business as usual,"

"Our space, signing, promotional programs and the hundreds of millions of consumers in our stores annually should not be undervalued,"

Generally quick thinking would side with Target. If DVDs are available on the internet for a fare price compared to the DVD it would cut into DVD sales at stores. But surprisingly probably not so; if you apply critical thinking they might actually help sales of DVDs. For years pirated copies of movies have been around whether it is movies shot in theaters before transferring to DVD or movies rip from DVDs. But there is always one crucial problem it’s currently not close to being as enjoying as watching it on your TV. With the falling prices of DVD players and increasingly bigger cheaper televisions it gives the public more money to spend on DVDs. In addition it could boost DVD sales to who enjoyed the movie on their computer and wish the experience the movie again, but on a bigger screen.

The Appeal to Force is a bully tactic used to persuade you to do something you don’t believe in or sway your option using words that relate to everybody. You can see this used in the religious objections to abortion, political stances on every thing from war to the global warming issues, and in the work place. In critical thinking you would have to look at all the issues and the outcome of you options. In the work or political career it could mean your job, but maybe it was for the better. To better find a scope out you can use decision making tool to help you along the way. First state your problem, what your option on the problem is, what you can do to possible solve the problem and any alternatives to the problem. It possible that the solution you could is not one that you would like to face, but might be your only option.

The political race for president in Venezuela is a good example of this. The current president Hugo Chбvez who has been in power eight years and is currently challenged by Manuel Rosales the current governor of Zulia on the of states in Venezuela’s. While the political race is interesting enough what caught my eye was Chбvez’s forceful tactic he is using to gain votes in the country. In a excerpt from a article

“the government has stepped up efforts to persuade public employees that to not re-elect Mr Chбvez would be risky. A video leaked last week showed Rafael Ramнrez, the energy minister, warning an auditorium packed with state oil company managers that employees who failed to show unswerving loyalty to “the red revolution” would be dismissed.”

In other word vote for Chavez or you’ll be fired. While not yet know if this threat will be carried out since the election is in December. It shows that even the length individual will go to get people in their light. It easy to not