Avoiding logical fallacies

Imagine George and Ava are debating. George cleverly uses a "Straw Man" fallacy. What does that mean?

• He attacks a simpler, weaker version of Ava's argument to win the debate.

• He brings up irrelevant facts to support his own argument.

• He claims Ava's points cause bad outcomes just because they are mentioned together.

• He repeats his main point in various ways to confuse Ava.

Imagine you're in a lively debate club meeting at school. George makes a point, but instead of addressing his argument, Emily criticizes George directly. Which fallacy is Emily committing?

• Red Herring

• Ad Hominem

• Appeal to Authority

• Slippery Slope

Imagine Max, Isla, and Aarav are discussing school policies. Max argues, 'If we let students redo their assignments to boost their scores, next thing you know, they'll demand to retake whole courses to up their GPA!'

• False Cause

• Slippery Slope

• Hasty Generalization

• Appeal to Ignorance

Imagine Matilda and James are debating. Matilda warns that allowing students to use phones in class for educational apps might eventually lead to them using phones all the time for social media. Which fallacy is Matilda using by assuming a small first step will lead to a chain of related events resulting in some significant (usually negative) effect?

• Slippery Slope

• Post Hoc

• Straw Man

• False Dichotomy

Let's dive into logical fallacies! Can you spot the "False Dichotomy" in these statements?

• "You're either with us, or against us." - said by Emily during a debate.

• "He must be sad because he isn't smiling." - Charlie noted, observing a friend.

• "She didn't argue against the proposal, so she must agree with it." - Sebastian concluded in a meeting.

• "If you don't support this candidate, you support corruption." - a statement during a school election.

Imagine you're in a lively debate club meeting at school. Noah raises a point, citing a famous basketball player's opinion on climate change. Rosie quickly objects, noting the fallacy in Noah's argument. Which fallacy is it, where someone's opinion is used as evidence in an area outside their expertise?

• Appeal to Authority

• Ad Populum

• Non Sequitur

• Red Herring

Imagine you're at a bustling health fair with William, Jacob, and Priya. You overhear a group excitedly claiming, 'Everyone is buying this health supplement; it must be effective.' What's the flaw in this reasoning?

• Appeal to Popularity (Ad Populum)

• Appeal to Ignorance

• Hasty Generalization

• Bandwagon

Imagine Aarav and Poppy are debating in a spooky, dimly-lit room. Aarav suddenly claims, 'No one has proven that ghosts don't exist, therefore they must exist.' What fallacy is Aarav demonstrating with this statement?

• Appeal to Ignorance

• False Dichotomy

• Straw Man

• Slippery Slope

Imagine you're in a lively debate club meeting at school. Aarav stands up and passionately argues, 'We should keep the school uniforms because that's the way it's always been!' Which fallacy is Aarav using?

• Appeal to Tradition

• Ad Hominem

• Non Sequitur

• Red Herring

Imagine Harry passionately debating in class: "Either we ban all cars to stop global warming, or our planet is doomed." What's the fallacy here?

• False Dichotomy

• Slippery Slope

• Appeal to Fear

• Bandwagon