Logical Fallacies
Logic, properly used, creates truth and knowledge. As we have seen, it involves the rules of the syllogism and inductive reasoning. But the study of correct thinking is a wide subject, the knowledge of which could make you a better business person. It may take you some time to become proficient at strictly following the formal rules of logical deliberation and you should not feel bad about it.
Logicians, starting with Aristotle, have developed a few useful “short-cuts” to thinking logically called the informal fallacies. These fallacies often take their Latin names. Here are, apart from the first, their English names:
Ad Hominem (Appeal to the man) “(Attacking the person): This fallacy occurs when, instead of addressing someone's argument or position, you irrelevantly attack the person or some aspect of the person who is making the argument. The fallacious attack can also be direct to membership in a group or institution.”[2]
Appeal to Ignorance
“This fallacy occurs when you argue that your conclusion must be true, because there is no evidence against it. This fallacy wrongly shifts the burden of proof away from the one making the claim.”[3]
Begging the Question (Petitio Principii) “…assuming what is to be proved in order to prove it.”[4] Offering your conclusion as proof of your thesis.
Confusion of Necessary with a Sufficient Condition
“A causal fallacy (is committed) when you assume that a necessary condition of an event is sufficient for the event to occur. A necessary condition is a condition that must be present for an event to occur. A sufficient condition is a condition or set of conditions that will produce the event. A necessary condition must be there, but it alone does not provide sufficient cause for the occurrence of the event. Only the sufficient grounds can do this. In other words, all of the necessary elements must be there.”[5] (Parentheses mine)
Equivocation
Equivocation is “…where a single word is used in divers senses.”[6]
False Dilemma
“When you reason from an either-or position and you haven't considered all relevant possibilities, you commit the fallacy of false dilemma.”[7]
Faulty Analogy
“This fallacy consists in assuming that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other respect.”[8]
Inconsistency
“A person commits the fallacy of inconsistency when he or she makes contradictory claims.”[9]
Irrelevant Authority
“The fallacy of irrelevant authority is committed when you accept without proper support for his or her alleged authority, a person's claim or proposition as true. Alleged authorities should only be used when the authority is reporting on his or her field of expertise, the authority is reporting on facts about which there is some agreement in his or her field, and you have reason to believe he or she can be trusted. Alleged authorities can be individuals or groups. The attempt to appeal to the majority or the masses is a form of irrelevant authority. The attempt to appeal to an elite or select group is a form of irrelevant authority.”[10]
Is Ought
“The is-ought fallacy occurs when the assumption is made that because things are a certain way, they should be that way. It can also consist of the assumption that because something is not now occurring, this means it should not occur. In effect, this fallacy asserts that the status quo should be maintained simply for its own sake. It seeks to make a value of a fact or to derive a moral imperative from the description of a state of affairs.”[11]
Ought Is
“The ought-is fallacy occurs when you assume that the way you want things to be is the way they are. This is also called wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is believing what you want to be true no matter the evidence or without evidence at all, or assuming something is not true, because you do not want it to be so.”[12]
Questionable Cause
“This fallacy occurs when a causal connection is assumed without proof. All too often claims to a causal connection are based on a mere correlation. The occurrence of one event after the other or the occurrence of events simultaneously is not proof of a causal connection.”[13]
Red Herring
“This fallacy consists in diverting attention from the real issue by focusing instead on an issue having only a surface relevance to the first.”[14]
Slippery Slope
“In a slippery slope argument, a course of action is rejected because, with little or no evidence, one insists that it will lead to a chain reaction resulting in an undesirable end or ends. The slippery slope involves an acceptance of a succession of events without direct evidence that this course of events will happen.”[15]
Straw Person (Straw Man)
“This fallacy occurs when, in attempting to refute another person's argument, you address only a weak or distorted version of it. Straw person is the misrepresentation of an opponent's position or a competitor's product to tout one's own argument or product as superior. This fallacy occurs when the weakest version of an argument is attacked while stronger ones are ignored.”[16]
Two Wrongs
“If you try to justify an act/belief by pointing out in others a similar act/belief, you are committing the fallacy of "two wrongs make a right." This fallacy can occur by suggesting "if others are doing it, I can too" (common practice). Another form of the fallacy occurs when you dismiss a criticism of your action/belief, because your critic is acting/believing in a similar way (you do it, too).”[17]
Unwarranted Generalization
“This fallacy occurs when we make a generalization on the basis of insufficient evidence. This may occur when we rely on too small of a sample or an unrepresentative sample to support the generalization.”[18]
There are literally hundreds of logical fallacies. You can find books full of them, but those listed above are the most common. It would do you well to learn them thoroughly and integrate them into your personal database of thinking. By learning to recognize when someone commits a logical fallacy, you will go a long way toward solving real problems. When you can recognize a logical fallacy in practice, you will have a clue to the kind of thinking others generally make and avoid the pitfalls of wrongful thinking.
When a person uses an informal fallacy, he is betraying his own cognitive inefficacy, his inability to think clearly. Your knowledge of these fallacies can help you promote better ideas and solutions for the problems of running a business. This will help you stand out as a valuable employee.
Decision-Making
Every decision you make should be based upon the relevant facts of the situation that gives rise to the need for a decision. These facts can be broken down into positive statements (propositions and conclusions) that can be checked against reality (proven). You arrive at these conclusions and propositions by means of investigation (also called induction).
Effective decision-making can only take place when you use the best available knowledge. The jump from your knowledge to the correct decision is much easier if you apply the principles we discussed in our chapters on logic and logical fallacies.
Decision-making can only be based upon induction and analysis of the facts of reality as they relate to the field upon which you must decide. Essentially, there are three steps:
Identify the question about which the decision is to be made, and
Identify the facts that relate to that question, and
Draw your conclusion.
Decision-Making Worksheet
Decision-Making Worksheet
Date:
Individuals involved in this decision
Question
Relevant Facts
Needed Knowledge
How Will You Apply this Knowledge?
What tests or analyses will I need to make?
Results of test or analysis – list as bullet points
Decision (give reasons)
Who will implement the decision?
How will the decision
be implemented?
When will the decision be implemented?
Who will be responsible for maintaining any necessary actions and to whom will they report?
Problem Solving
In this section, we refer to business problems that haunt the company. They can be such things as inefficient business processes, the use of faulty equipment in production, personnel policies and standards of quality, etc. Such problems cause a business to lose money, perform disappointingly or harm company morale. When a business problem is solved, the company becomes stronger and improves its standing with customers.
As an employee, you add value to the company when you consider yourself part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Problem solving is a skill that all the best managers have. They don’t hold back and they never settle for situations that keep the company from fulfilling its mission.
The first thing to do to solve a business problem is to describe the problem and the negative consequences of the problem. Quantify these consequences if possible. Then, use the process of induction to identify a solution that has a “possible” better consequence.
Implementing the solution is also very important. Someone should be charged with the responsibility for taking the actions that will solve the problem and a reporting process should be maintained. As this process moves forward, adjustments should be made as needed to improve the solution and focus it specifically on the problem.
It is always important to realize that it is the boss’s or owner’s responsibility to sanction your work and make the final decision to change procedures and fix the problem. Make sure you have his or her blessing for anything you do to solve the problem.
Problem Solving Worksheet
Problem Solving Worksheet
Date:
Individuals involved in this investigation
Problem
Statistics or Measurement Criteria
What is the Specific Cause of this Problem?
What is the Specific Business Process that is affected by this Problem?
Describe the Steps of this Business Process
What Specific Step is Responsible for this Problem?
What New Step/s Will Solve this Problem?
Describe the New Business Process with the New Steps
Perform some tests of this new procedure and measure the result. Then calculate the effect of the new procedure if all people performing this process were to do so.
Meet with and Report Results to the Director in Charge. Report the Results of the Meeting Here:
Next Step: (Do Another Worksheet or Implement the Procedure Company-Wide)
Pragmatism
This may seem like an overly philosophical issue but I think it is important for business professionals not to get dragged into a way of thinking that is negative for their companies.
Top business professionals are often praised for their fact-based decision making. When working with a team, they want to be told “the facts”; they want it straight from the horse’s mouth so they can make an informed decision. They don’t like vague language, guesses or noncommittal responses. If you bring him or her a problem, they’d also like for you to bring a solution as well. They are problem solvers, no nonsense thinkers and, above all, they know how to get things done. This is called being pragmatic. But is it really? There is a difference between being pragmatic in the philosophical sense and being practical in the objective sense.
The first premise of pragmatic thinking is the belief that “perception is reality”. The implication of such a view is that the human mind creates reality by merely thinking that something is true. This means that the mind creates facts which is not possible.
This view is based upon the philosophical notion that the human mind creates reality by thinking it. This notion, although accepted by most of philosophy teachers in our universities, is untrue. Reality is independent of consciousness. It cannot be created by a wish of a god, an individual or a society full of individuals. If a fact is true, it is true because it is independently existent, not the product of the whims, emotions or thoughts of people.
As we saw in our discussion of logic, a fact is an existent which is described by means of a proposition or statement. The statement “A is A” is a fact regardless of who disagrees. “The dog barks” is a fact. Neither of these facts can be created by the mind but must be acknowledged as facts. Therefore, it is not practical to think that perception is reality. Perception merely observes reality and the mind can only acknowledge the existence of what is perceived.
The difference between the pragmatist view to practicality and the objective view is that the pragmatist focuses more on the opinions of others and the objectivist focuses on the facts. It is the difference between accomplishment in reality and taking public opinion polls.
The next premise of pragmatism is that, in the realm of action, the only thing men can do is appeal to the opinions of others rather than ascertain independent facts. Because reality is unknowable, under this view, the only way to deal with reality is to take what are called “bold leaps”. A bold leap is essentially a move to do something, anything to see how it works. When you hear that a business person is “results-oriented”, to a pragmatist, it means that he takes bold leaps but monitors the results to see if it they are successful.
Why is this a problem? Most of the time, bold leaps are just a shot in the dark. There is very little in the way of “fact-gathering” involved. And this means, more than taking a bold leap; it means jumping off a cliff.
There is a better way and that is the way of induction as we saw in our chapter on Decision-Making. You can use facts and induction to decide what to do; you don’t need to hope for the best; it is possible to know the best solution through careful study and knowledge acquisition.
Parenthetically, the pragmatic approach is why government programs work so poorly. Most politicians are pragmatists of the highest order. They were educated in our universities that practical action was pragmatic action. Pragmatism is not practical. The best approach is to look at reality, understand that the mind can rely on its perceptions and use concepts to solve problems.
Generating New Ideas
This chapter will show you how to generate new ideas. New ideas are the never-thought-of-ideas that bring change and innovation to business processes as well as the free market system. They are the hallmark of human progress and the basis upon which new companies and new products are based. Your ability to generate new ideas will be critical to your success in business.
New ideas are the innovations in your field. They represent, most often, the next step of product development for your already good products.
Each product that your company sells is made up of features and benefits. Each product, feature and benefit is a separate concept. The key to creating new ideas that improve your products and make up new products is to develop a thorough knowledge through reduction and building up. Reduction is the process of bringing all features and benefits of a product down to the perceptual level, and in some cases, down to the chemical or molecular level. Building up is the process of invention and innovation.
Today, as society advances, the quality and diversity of products also advances. Companies advance their products and services by engaging in thorough redesigns of their products, services and business processes. To stay competitive, they need to be constantly seeking improvements and economies that get things done more efficiently as well as reduce production costs which in turn reduce prices.
This is generally called research and development (R&D) and is a critical process for companies that want to stay in business. I’ve done some work in the “product management” field. I know about the Acceptance Curve and Product Life Cycle, both of which are ways to keep track of the viability of products and to manage company investments in production and returns. As a business professional, I would suggest you research these fields to be able to understand your company better.
However, the d
evelopment of new ideas can be done by anyone since all thought is individual. It is important to have detailed business process and product knowledge especially the processes that take place before, during and after production.
The key to new ideas is two-fold:
Taking next steps.
Taking totally new directions.
Taking next steps
Next steps in product development means finding the next available improvement in a product, service or business process. You learn about this in two ways, 1) by looking at each element of the product, service or process and, 2) researching if there are new materials, arrangements or steps that will (or might) improve it.
One good way is to read scientific articles and/or papers about the product, service or business process to see if there have been any new developments in the field. You should also look at scientific research in other fields to see if any of these developments can be applied to your product or service.
For each product, the company should keep a product book (or database) in which you record everything you learn during these studies. This data can be looked at later when it is time to make the next advance.
How to Be a Great Employee And a Greater Manager Page 5