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Post #1: World Mysteries Assignment #1 - Padlet Wall

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Post #1: World Mysteries Assignment #1 - Padlet Wall

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Connor Kelly 100715014

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Definition: The Red Herring Fallacy occurs when an irrelevant topic or idea is brought up to distract and divert the attention of the targeted audience from the actual problem.

Connection:

In this comic we can see a very good and historically prevalent use of the Red Herring. Not to suggest that war happens as a distraction, but it can certainly and has been used and emphasized by the media to distract the people of other actual issues.

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Definition: The Ancient Wisdom fallacy is commonly used as an argument to deceive people by using the idea that ancient practices and beliefs are superior to the ones we have today.

Connection:

This video does a very good job explaining the rationale and facts behind homeopathy. Many believe in homeopathic treatments, and one of the biggest arguments for it is that the practice of it as well as the herbal mixtures has been around for hundreds of years.

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Homeopathy Explained – Gentle Healing or Reckless Fraud?

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Definition: The All Natural fallacy is a very popular tactic marketers use to deceive their customer base into believing that because the blanket statement “all natural” is a good thing where as it is a very grey area where you could argue that anything is natural as it all comes from the planet Earth. It also pushes the narrative that anything that may be more “unnatural” is bad.

Connection:

In this comic you can see a good example of excusing possible bad behaviour of any wrong doing as doing whatever comes to your mind is just “doing what comes naturally.”

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Definition: Confirmation bias is the subconscious tendency that many of us are guilty of falling victim to where our beliefs and opinions influence our thought process to the point where we ignore evidence that may be against our case and idea and try to focus on the information that agrees with us.

Connection:

This infographic does a great job of outlining the thought process that one may go through when guilty of confirmation bias and also giving a specific example that we may be able to relate to. It is certainly true that when something we value such as news articles agree with us, we feel vindicated and relieved that we are “right”.

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Post #2: (Red Flag) Appeal to Authority 

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Post #2: (Red Flag) Appeal to Authority 

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Definition: Appeal to authority is a fallacy where an argument or opinion uses the power of authority from figures that society may value more and consider a valid source.

Connection:

In this Nestle commercial aired in Australia in 2016 advertising the product “Milo”, it heavily suggests that the drink mix is healthy, nutritious “fuel” associating it with sports and athletes. They are hoping that if you see athletes drinking it and pushing it that you will believe it. However, this drink is not healthy, and if you look at the ingredients and nutritional values it actually contains a ton of sugar and artificial flavours.

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Nestle Milo Basketball TV Commercial 2016

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Post #7 (Reason For Belief) Patternicity 

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Post #7 (Reason For Belief) Patternicity 

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Definition: Patternicity is the tendency that humans all have to find patterns and meaning in situations where It may not be present.

Connection: In this image you see some public binoculars, but you may also see an owls face. This is an example of patternicity and pareidolia. The human mind naturally perceives patterns as a survival mechanism. If it’s dark, wouldn’t you want to see a possible predator?

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Post #8 (Reason For Belief) Perception and Observation

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Post #8 (Reason For Belief) Perception and Observation

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Definition: Perception and Observation is the idea that we can not only observe patterns and situations but also conclude on them as we put a lot of value into our own experience. We trust our five senses more than anything and even though some times they may be wrong, that can be very hard to believe.

Connection: This video does a very good job explaining possible logical explanations as to why people may see and believe in ghosts.

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Definition: The Unexplained belief is something that is commonly used when discussing topics that are still unknown and unproven to us. We can’t explain something, so sometimes we lean towards something we would like to believe.

Connection: A good example I thought of personally for the unexplained belief is one of the main motivators to why someone would believe in religion. The idea of the afterlife is very soothing, and conveniently comforts us in difficult situations. What easier way to console someone on the death of a loved one than telling them that they are in a better place.

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Post #10 (Use of the Critical Thinking Process) 

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Post #10 (Use of the Critical Thinking Process) 

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I am choosing to evaluate the video on Homeopathy.

Define the Problem: Does Homeopathy actually work? Or is it Fraud?

Gather Information/Evidence: Homeopathy is not based on any actual scientific research. Science has actually proven that after many dilutions there are no traces or even a single atom of the original formulation. There are many reasons as to why people may believe it works as well. Placebo is a very powerful tool, and belief can relieve stress which is actually a good way to boost the healing process. Lastly, the natural healing process are inevitable, and taking a homeopathic product and then healing over time can make you think that it was the product that helped you.

Recognize Bias/Assumptions: As mentioned previously, people want things to work, and if you do believe in something even if it is a proven pseudoscience, it can feel like it works.

Identify Alternatives:
Alternative #1 - Homeopathy does not work and is fraud, however may have placebo benefits
Alternative #2 - Homeopathy works for some people, but not all.
Alternative #3 - Homeopathy works if you get the right treatment from the right doctor.

Select Best Alternative:
Alternative #1 - I do not believe it works but if you are taking positive measures to help yourself as well as believe in them there are positive benefits that can come from that.