All About that Fallacy

Fallacies are used to make an argument credible when in reality it is not. Using fallacies are effective in writing because if the reader is not aware of these techniques, the fallacies persuade the readers and make the argument seem correct. Sometimes we use rhetorical fallacies in our writing and we don’t even notice it. A common fallacy that we tend to use is generalization. There are two types of generalization, hasty and sweeping generalization. Hasty generalization is basically when we “jump to conclusions” with not enough evidence or proof to reach that conclusion. For example, saying all Mormons are boring because they have many “restrictions” they have to follow. People who say this are generalizing that all Mormons are boring, when in reality we can have fun too even though we have these commandments and ordinances we follow. You can probably say a hasty generalization is almost like a stereotype. The other type of generalization is similar to hasty generalization. Sweeping generalizations relating two situations without taking into consideration their differences. For example, saying, “You want be an actor, then go to Hollywood to study acting because that is where actors are usually successful.” This is a reasonable assumption to relate acting with Hollywood because that is the city of the movie industry, but you do not have to go to Hollywood to receive an acting career there are other places to get an education in acting.

I never knew how much rhetorical devices are all around us. We can see rhetorical devices and rhetorical fallacies when we hear people speaking, when we read an article or a book, or when were just walking back to our room. I was walking back to my room listening to music, when the song “All about that Bass” by Meghan Trainor came on. I was listening and thinking about the lyrics and how she uses rhetorical devices to motivate people, girls in particular, to not worry about the way they look. As I was listening I caught a rhetorical fallacy. She uses generalization in her song! When she mentions, “Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase,” she is generalizing that all the “boys like a little more booty to hold at night.” By doing this it makes her audience or girls feel better about themselves because she is telling them that ALL boys like girls that are a little thicker, which is might not be true.

As you can see fallacies can be used almost in every style of communication and sometimes it can be effective, but sometimes it can be a bad idea to overuse fallacies to make something credible.