Hey, what’s up guys! I wanted to start off today by doing a quick review of a Fallacy we’ve covered earlier in this season. Let’s talk real quickly about the Genetic Fallacy. The Genetic Fallacy is saying something is either good or bad simply because of where it came from or b/c of who said it.
Here’s the question to ask yourself if you think you might be faced with a Genetic Fallacy: “Is this idea or claim really true (or false) just b/c it came from that source?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, check out Episode 18.
Ok, let’s dive into today’s fallacy! The new fallacy we’re talking about today is called the Middle Ground Fallacy. The Middle Ground Fallacy states that the truth can be found at the middle point between two extreme arguments. It says that a compromise between two extreme arguments will be the right answer. This fallacy is also called the False Compromise or the Argument to Moderation.
Here’s a simple example: Beth says the flower is light blue, but Amy says the flower is pink. So Alice says, let’s just call the flower purple and make everyone happy! So, just b/c Alice came up with a solution that’s somewhere between what the other two girls were saying, does that mean she was right? Not necessarily!
Here’s another example: Jack says it’s always wrong to tell a lie, but Jason says that lying isn’t a big deal. So Grant concludes that it’s probably ok to tell a lie sometimes. Do you see how Grant was settling on a compromise? He didn’t ask himself if it’s even true! He just picked an idea that was somewhere in the middle and decided to base his decisions about lying off of that.
The problem with the Middle Ground Fallacy is that it’s making the assertion that compromise for the sake of compromise is the right answer. By now you know that’s not true. Compromise is just that - a compromise. It doesn’t mean you’ve arrived at the right answer, or at the truth. You have to actually provide real reasons for why something is correct or incorrect.
The thing that makes this fallacy tricky is that sometimes, compromising can be good. Sometimes, the truth is found somewhere in between two extreme arguments. But that doesn’t mean that compromise WILL produce truth in every situation. Think about it this way: the middle between two false statements will still be false. The middle between a right and a wrong statement will most likely still be wrong.
Here’s a real-life example of the Middle Ground Fallacy from Politics: One politician wants to deport all illegal immigrants. Another politician wants to grant full citizenship and "amnesty" to all illegal immigrants. A third politician claims that the only right answer is a "path to citizenship," where illegal immigrants are not deported or granted citizenship. Rather, they have to do several things to eventually earn citizenship. Can you see how the third politician is trying to appease both sides & bring an end to an argument by finding an answer in the middle. The reality is, the answer might be something completely different or outside either of the two extremes originally suggested.
If you find yourself faced with a Middle Ground Fallacy, the question to ask yourself is this: “Is this solution backed by real evidence or is it just a compromise?”… *repeat*
Join me next time when we’ll be talking about the Weak Analogy Fallacy and
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
