An Experiment in Logos

  

  Ah! How I do love logic! The deadly, forgotten little dagger of the wise, used in any battle which they find themselves amidst. Not to say that I think I am wise, but knowing yourself to be a fool is the first step in that direction.

 For most of my life I have relished finding fallacies and correcting even the littlest illogical arguments and happenings. In all truthfulness, I think anyone who knows me, hates me to this. So, I find it rather hard to pick just one instance of dealing with fallacies.

  Bandwagon fallacies seem to be the type that I see most easily, hate most, and have most stories about avoiding. One such tale happened last spring, when I was being passionately encouraged to join a youth political organization. For several weeks I received excited emails from a friend and an acquaintance, urging me to join this organization to "take back the government and culture" was the repeated phrase.

 Do not get me wrong, I am passionate about changing the direction that our government and culture are heading. And I know for a fact, that it all starts with each of us, individually and personally, but something didn't quite sit right with me about the email writers' pushy approach. I felt inclined to join because of the urgency and the appearance that many people I knew and respected were also joining or already part of the organization. In retrospect, it seems that there was a bit of false dilemma going on in these emails, as well. I slowly began to believe that there were just two options: join or have no part in changing the culture as a young person.

  Several wise influences came to my aid as I processed the dilemma. Another friend, a sibling, and most effectively, my mom listened and prudently directed my attention to the errors I was stumbling through. Over the course of two hours, my mom and I pondered everything I had gathered from the emails, looking at all the different ways I could still be effective to our government and culture with or without joining the organization. And, at last, she lead me to discover what had kept me so uneasy about jumping into this. Almost everything that compelled me to consider this was the belief that my friends loved and were doing it. In reality? Simply doing something because everyone else, or all your friends are doing it, is never the wisest path.  It is plainly and simply a fallacy; something young people, aspiring journalists, and, in short, anyone can fall for, so be wary! Be prudent! And do not forget to use that little, yet all important tool called logic!