Wikipedia says a logical fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument. We used to be taught this in school. My first formal exposure to deductive and inductive reasoning was in science class in junior high school. Later I studied mathematical logic in college.
Inductive reasoning is a method of drawing conclusions by going from specific observations to general observations.
Often we tend to think of inductive reasoning as bad, or sloppy reasoning, but that is not the case. Inductive reasoning is the base for the scientific method, for how research is conducted. We use it every day to help us figure the world out, to make sense of things, to make decisions.
That being said, I think it is too often misused.
Before I throw dirt at others, let me come clean with my own worst tendency to use it. Bear with me please, it involves some ideas and conflicts specific to Catholicism, but it’s my best example of where I let my own logic fail me, and emotion take over, and that’s the whole point of this post. If you are Catholic, I’d ask you, no matter which side of the divide you might be on, or perhaps even not relate at all, to look for the point here and not get sidetracked.
The last decades have seen an increasing number of Catholics be just as divided into camps as we are in politics. Catholics who prefer to attend Mass in the Ancient, also called Extraordinary Form, commonly known as the Latin Mass, have become known as Trad Catholics. Some self identify with that term, and some use it, and see it, as an insult.
Most Catholics, including me, choose to attend the Ordinary Form, or Novus Ordo. Little or no Latin is spoken, although there are a number of important differences in the two forms of the Mass.
I have had the unfortunate experience of having a number of bad encounters with Trad Catholics. Indeed, the worst I’ve ever been attacked for one of my posts on this blog was by several Trads, and it was really vicious.
Consequently, I tend to not give Traditional Catholics the benefit of the doubt in my encounters with them. In spite of the fact that theologically my beliefs are almost identical to theirs. My values almost always align with theirs. We have much in common politically and in lifestyle choices.
But because my own specific encounters have been difficult, I often form opinions about their actions and motivations based on a very minute set of facts, and contrary to many other things I know to be true.
So, on to other examples I see, specifically here, that concern me.
Everyone who differs in opinion in some way from commonly held MAGA doctrine, whatever that might be, is not necessarily failing to support President Trump.
Everyone who expresses a dissenting or unpopular opinion here is not necessarily a troll.
Everyone who agrees with the choice of Vance for Vice President or disagrees with the choice is not necessarily a subversive deep state enemy or a brilliant thinker who never fails to connect the dots, or listen to good counsel.
If I have a moral and religious belief or value more closely held than my opposition to abortion, I can’t think what it is. Yet, I will say, not everyone who gets an abortion is evil. There are young, ignorant and uninformed girls and women who are often pressured into this terrible choice. There are sex trafficked victims for whom this is just one more terrible abuse.
There is an awful lot of talk right now, given the British cop who wants to, haha, extradite Americans for exercising freedom of speech. We need to think about what that means, freedom of speech.
If we believe in the right, then we believe in it for everyone. I don’t have to approve of what you say, and I should not therefore decide that you are a bad person, a lazy thinker, or even not just a supporter of President Trump because you said something I don’t believe.
Over the years, some of my most important choices in life have been based on information I obtained by talking to people I thought were wrong, or people I disagreed with. Sometimes those discussions led me to clarify and temper my own thoughts, improving my position and my opinions. Sometimes, they led me to investigate a different path.
My choice to support President Trump in his initial run for president was greatly influenced by Sundance and some of you. I was initially curious, open to learning more and supporting him, as I hated the other choices, but it was not a done deal based on emotion. I had a lot to think about.
I actually never intended to convert to Catholicism, the most important choice of my whole life. I was pursuing knowledge for a different reason entirely. Life is like that, if you set out to learn things.
Do not tell people they don’t belong here because they disagreed with you.
Do not call them a troll because they disagreed with you.
If you only ever go to the library looking for books by one author because you really, really like him, you sure are going to be a stunted, uninformed person throughout your life. And the one who will have lost the most is you.