When we think about reasoning, there are two main ways to do it: deductive and inductive. But both have their own mistakes, called fallacies, that can mess you up if you’re not careful.
Common Mistakes in Deductive Reasoning:
Affirming the Consequent: This mistake happens when you wrongly think that if “If P then Q” is true, and you see Q, then P must be true too.
For example: “If it’s raining, then the ground is wet. The ground is wet, so it must be raining.” That's not a good conclusion!
Denying the Antecedent: This is when you assume that if “If P then Q” is true, but P is false, then Q has to be false too.
For example: “If it’s a dog, then it’s an animal. It’s not a dog, so it’s not an animal.” That’s a big mistake!
Common Mistakes in Inductive Reasoning:
Hasty Generalization: This happens when you make a broad conclusion based on just a few examples.
For instance, just because your friend wore a red shirt and got a flat tire, it doesn’t mean that red shirts cause flat tires!
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: This big phrase means that you think one thing caused another just because they happened at the same time.
If you wore your lucky socks and won a game, it doesn’t mean the socks made you win.
To wrap it up, knowing about these mistakes can really help you think better and argue stronger. Happy reasoning!
When we think about reasoning, there are two main ways to do it: deductive and inductive. But both have their own mistakes, called fallacies, that can mess you up if you’re not careful.
Common Mistakes in Deductive Reasoning:
Affirming the Consequent: This mistake happens when you wrongly think that if “If P then Q” is true, and you see Q, then P must be true too.
For example: “If it’s raining, then the ground is wet. The ground is wet, so it must be raining.” That's not a good conclusion!
Denying the Antecedent: This is when you assume that if “If P then Q” is true, but P is false, then Q has to be false too.
For example: “If it’s a dog, then it’s an animal. It’s not a dog, so it’s not an animal.” That’s a big mistake!
Common Mistakes in Inductive Reasoning:
Hasty Generalization: This happens when you make a broad conclusion based on just a few examples.
For instance, just because your friend wore a red shirt and got a flat tire, it doesn’t mean that red shirts cause flat tires!
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: This big phrase means that you think one thing caused another just because they happened at the same time.
If you wore your lucky socks and won a game, it doesn’t mean the socks made you win.
To wrap it up, knowing about these mistakes can really help you think better and argue stronger. Happy reasoning!