The Five Common Thinking Errors as Displayed in my Life
I talk with a good friend of mine, Emily, about three times a week, and we usually have small debates because she often take things at face value and I try to get her to think more deeply. These excerpts are from several conversations that we had about a week ago.

1.False and Vague Premise
Emily was considering dating a friend of mine named Jeff but was hesitant. She explained,"Guys are not trustworthy, so I don't trust Jeff enough to go out with him."

2.Begging the Question
I then asked Emily why she beleived that guys were not trustworthy, and she simply replied: "Because they cannot be trusted."

3.Ad Hominem
Emily mentioned George W. Bush in passing, and I, an ignorant Democrat, quickly jumped at the chance to call President Bush an idiot that is incapable of leading our country.

4.Non Sequitur
We had been talking about movies-a favorite topic of mine-and I said that I wanted to see "The Departed" starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Emily answered that she had no interest in seeing it becuase she didn't like DiCaprio's performance in "Gangs of New York," a movie with little resemblance to "The Departed."

5.Red Herring
Like most girls, Emily is in love with Johnny Depp and when broguht up, I said that I didn't care for his movies. Naturally, Emily was curious and inquired as to why, to which I replied: "He is too crazy and wierd for me."


Explanation for Errors

1. Emily made an assumption about Jeff due to her prejudice toward guys. Her underlying belief about guys came from a past relationship in which she was hurt.

2. Emily simply restated the question wihtout providing any evidence or support for her broad statement.

3. I didn't offer good evidence to support my judgement nor did I display much intelligence in the arguement; I just attacked his stupidity rather than challenge his decisions and that was enough for me, at the time.

4. Emily's opinion about "The Departed" was poorly based on a previous movie with different characters and plot. She incorrectly assumed that DiCaprio's performance would be the same in a different role; her logic was flawed which led to an incorrect conclusion.

5. I dislike certain parts of Johnny Depp's personality and behavior, and those annoyances had given me reason not to see his movies, although they very well could have been great movies. I took a personal dislike and used it as an irrelevant reason to dislike his movies.

Back to my Home Page