Friday, October 29, 2010

Logical Fallacies Response

The Jon Stewart clip was filled with many fallacies and was quite hysterical.  The first fallacy I noticed was an Inductive Fallacy.  Mr. Hodgman used Hasty Generalization when he showed the news clips about disease coming back to America.  The news broadcasters said that some immigrants have brought back diseases we thought were wiped out.  After the clips, Hodgman said the newscasters had it "exactly right," in that all illegal aliens have tuberculosis and leprosy.  This is a hasty generalization.  Not all illegal immigrants have tuberculosis and leprosy!  Another fallacy that is presented by Hodgman is Anonymous Authorities.  Before the video clips, Hodgman said, "There was a larger concern here, one that my fellow television experts picked up on."  Well, who exactly are your television experts picking up on these clips?  If they are experts, why are the experts not named?  When the authority is not named it is impossible to confirm that the authority is truly an expert, it just sounds better to say television experts versus who these people really are.  Another fallacy presented was Appeal to Authority.  Multiple times throughout the video clip, Jon Hodgman made jokes, or mocked what the newscasters were saying.  The clips had bits and pieces removed, and Jon Stewart was saying what the newscaster would say on the clips, before the clips were presented.  Addressing fallacies comically by watching the clip of The Daily Show helped me see fallacies easier than I had before.

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