Читать книгу Social Work Research Methods - Reginald O. York - Страница 47

Illogical reasoning refers to arguments that are not logical. It is not logical, for example, for you to say that the reason I am grumpy today is because of what I will have for breakfast tomorrow. This is not logical because it is not possible for a cause of something (my grumpiness) to come after it. It must come before. If I am grumpy right after breakfast today, you might logically say that one reason for it might be my breakfast. But not what I am going to have for breakfast tomorrow.

One form of illogical reasoning is the false dichotomy—the claim that there are only two options in an argument when, in fact, there are more. Consider this conversation the author once had with a friend. The friend asked, “Do you believe in doing a lot of testing of elementary school students?” I replied, “Yes, I do.” The friend responded, “Don’t you believe in instilling a love of learning?” The tone of voice suggested that this friend did not think that you could believe in testing and also believe in instilling a love of learning. He was presenting only two options as being possible when there were more.

According to this false dichotomy, if you believe in testing you must not believe in instilling a love of learning. But there are four alternatives here, not just two. You could possibly (1) believe in testing and not believe in instilling a love of learning, (2) not believe in testing but believe in instilling a love of learning, (3) not believe in testing and also not believe in instilling a love of learning, and (4) believe in testing and also believe in instilling a love of learning. By the way, my position is the last one: I believe in both. I do not think that you fail to believe in instilling a love of learning if you believe in testing.

My friend had entered this conversation with a perception that entailed incomplete information. There were four alternatives rather than two. This is the false dichotomy, which is a false claim that there are only two options (yes/no) when, in fact, there are more options logically in the argument.

There are other forms of illogical reasoning and other ways we make mistakes in decision making when we avoid the spirit of scientific inquiry. The next section will begin our review of this spirit and show how it helps with practice decisions.