In which Wolf opens day 12's door... Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/xKbNT25ZYSo
Welcome to the Beware of Wolf Advent Calendar of Bad Thinking. To celebrate the holidays, I'm counting down the days until Christmas with a common type of bad thinking each day, described in 60 seconds. This holiday season, give the gift of good thinking by sharing these videos with your friends!
Today is Day 12: "The Straw Man Fallacy"
Have you ever been in an argument where you felt like the other person didn't even try to understand what you really think? The straw man fallacy is when somebody avoids your true opinion and instead creates a distorted version of it - and then fights that fake version. It's like they set up a dummy "you" and started arguing with the dummy right while you're standing there!
In Florida, the "Parental Rights in Education Act of 2022" was widely decried as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, in an effort to tar it as unfairly targeting the non-straight community. In fact, the bill said nothing about specific sexual orientations or personal beliefs of teachers; in fact it could just have as correctly been called the "Don't Say Straight" bill. But because the "Don't Say Gay" label was endlessly repeated by the media, many people still have an extremely distorted understanding of what it is actually about.
To combat the straw man fallacy, it's important to be aware of the tactic and stay focused on the real issue at hand. You can catch attempts to derail the conversation by staying focused on the facts and calling out your opponent when they try to distort your opinion. And take the time to understand their viewpoint at least as well as they do: on one hand it will help them feel heard, and on the other it will also help you strengthen your arguments.
Happy Holidays!