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Many of our ideas about the world are based more on feelings than facts, sensibilities than science, and rage than reality. We gravitate toward ideas that make us feel comfortable in areas such as religion, politics, philosophy, social justice, love and sex, humanity, and morality. We avoid ideas that make us feel uncomfortable. This avoidance is a largely unconscious process that affects our judgment and gets in the way of our ability to reach rational and reasonable conclusions. By understanding how our mind works in this area, we can start embracing uncomfortable ideas and be better informed, be more understanding of others, and make better decisions in all areas of life.
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Is there a claim? Is the claim supported? If there is a claim and it's not supported, then it's an unsupported claim. And if an unsupported claim is considered a fallacy, then there is a fallacy. Please note that a statement can be true and still commit a logical fallacy. A fallacy lacks sufficient evidence to support the claim. Was there a claim made? An emotional and emphatic statement was made that began with the words, "In fact,..." So, there is a claim. If, by contrast, a statement is made with the qualification that it's a person's opinion or theory , then there is no direct claim of truth. Although the assumption of truth could be implied even if someone states that it's their opinion, So, the subtleties in communication can make it difficult to know what the person really intended. But in this case, most people would not question that a claim is being made, and it's not supported. Therefore, it's an unsupported claim. It could be discussed for days about what the definition of danger is, and whether a very well prepared climber is engaging in less danger than a half awake distracted driver going to work. But that's all immaterial to the determination of whether a logical fallacy was actually committed in the question. |
answered on Friday, Jan 05, 2024 04:18:09 PM by Alan Wells | |
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