In which Wolf opens day 3's door... Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/NjtKf2BmsV0
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 3: "The False Dilemma"
Back on Day 21 I discussed "the middle ground fallacy," which is the bad argument that the truth must lie between two extremes. The "false dilemma" is like the middle ground fallacy turned inside-out: it's the bad argument that asserts there are only two possible extreme positions to take. Actually it could be three or even more positions on the menu, but they are all prearranged and you are being told you must pick between them: no substitutions!
People love to oversimplify things, and one of the time-honored ways we do this is by proclaiming things like, "You're either with us, or against us!" "You can't eat your cake and have it too," and "My way or the highway!"
The problem with these statements is they ignore the complexity of life and the presence of many possible alternative solutions to any given situation. They also encourage people to mentally shut down and only accept one viewpoint over another, which only deepens division.
By listening to different perspectives and thinking creatively, it is often possible to come up with solutions that offer additional viable options, and could even be solutions where everybody wins.
You might not literally be able to eat your cake and have it too, but you might be able to make so much cake that you can eat your fill and still have plenty left over.
Happy Holidays!