Logic part 1: How to argue better and recognize fallacious arguments

[Louisiana1976]

I love logic. It asserts itself in wonderful ways in our lives and enriches the understanding of, well reality.

Knowing that, allow me to explain that logic isn't just 'being clever' or what have you. Logic has rules, rules needed so you can overcome some of the... not shortcomings, but small biases and mental shortcuts that the human brain is prone to.

Tonight we'll take a look at logical fallacies. There are two kinds, ones simply being wrong, having incorrect information, that short of thing, and aren't touched on very frequently for obvious reasons. The other kind, formal fallacies (so named because the problem lies in the form of the argument regardless of its outcome) are a field of study unto themselves, and it's those we'll focus on.

snip

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/8/812141/-Logic-for-Kossacks-Part-1:-How-to-argue-better-and-recognize-fallacious-arguments

[endless october]

1. logical fallacies : a good link

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

i was amazed at how many of these i have come across in online debate.

and, unfortunately, i have committed a few myself.

[Electric Monk]

5. +1

Love that site.

Every once in awhile, I'll commit a biggie on purpose, but that's just my sardonic wit. It's funniest when some people don't catch it.

[Cant trust em]

2. The fallacy of the excluded middle is rampant around here. nt

[Speck Tater]

3. Logic is utterly useless against people who don't believe in logic. nt

[snagglepuss]

4. .

[Hissyspit]

6. Hooray For Ratiocination!

Dictionary.com Word Of The Day:

Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 9, 2009

ratiocination \rash-ee-ah-suh-NAY-shun; rash-ee-oh-\, noun:

The process of logical reasoning.

For all their vaunted powers of ratiocination, grand masters of chess tend to be a skittery lot.
-- "People", Time, October 26, 1987

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes proved so popular that it became a given that mystery tales should include a sleuth who investigates a murder or other crime, and by virtue of intelligence, ratiocination and perseverance solves a case that initially seemed unsolvable.
-- Maxim Jakubowski, "A beginner's guide to crime fiction", The Guardian, October 29, 1999

Anticipating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by more than 20 years, an American physician named John Babbington Williams was scribbling stories extolling the fictional exploits of James Brampton, a New York detective with uncanny gifts of observation and ratiocination.
-- Marilyn Stasio, "Guilt's Companion ", New York Times, December 26, 2008

Ratiocination is from Latin rationcinatio, from ratiocinari, "to compute, to calculate, to reason," from ratio, "reckoning, calculation, reason," from reri, "to reckon, to think."