Middle Ground：This fallacy is committed when it is assumed that the middle position between two extremes must be correct simply because it is the middle position. this sort of "reasoning" has the following form:
1. Position A and B are two extreme positions.
2. C is a position that rests in the middle between A and B.
3. Therefore C is the correct position.
A month ago, a tree in Bill's yard was damaged in a storm. His neighbor, Joe, asked him to have the tree cut down so it would not fall on Joes new shed. Bill refused to do this. Two days ago another storm blew the tree onto Joe's new shed. Joe demanded that Joe pay the cost of repairs, which was $250. Bill said that he wasn't going to pay a cent. Obviously, the best solution is to reach a compromise between the two extremes, so Bill should pay Joe $125 dollars.
Misleading Vividness is a fallacy in which a very small number of particularly dramatic events
are taken to outweigh a significant amount of statistical evidence. This sort of "reasoning" has the following form:
1. Dramatic or vivid event X occurs (and is not in accord with the majority of the statistical evidence) .
2. Therefore events of type X are likely to occur.
3. Bill and Jane are talking about buying a computer.
Jane: "I've been thinking about getting a computer. I'm really tired of having to wait in the library to write my papers."
Bill: "What sort of computer do you want to get?"
Jane: "Well, it has to be easy to use, have a low price and have decent processing power. I've been thinking about getting a Kiwi Fruit 2200. I read in that consumer magazine that they have been found to be very reliable in six independent industry studies."
Bill: "I wouldn't get the Kiwi Fruit. A friend of mine bought one a month ago to finish his mas
ter's thesis. He was halfway through it when smoke started pouring out of the CPU. He didn't get his thesis done on time and he lost his financial aid. Now he's working over at the Gut Boy Burger Warehouse."
Jane: "I guess I won't go with the Kiwi!"
1. I had been doing pretty poorly this season. Then my girlfriend gave me this neon laces for my spikes and I won my next three races. Those laces must be if I keep on wearing them I can't help but win!
2. Bill purchases a new PowerMac and it works fine for months. He then buys and installs a new piece of software. The next time he starts up his Mac, it freezes. Bill concludes that the software must be the cause of the freeze.
sort of中文翻译3. Joan is scratched by a cat while visiting her friend. Two days later she comes down with a fever. Joan concludes that the cat's scratch must be the cause of her illness.
4. The Republicans pass a new tax reform law that benefits wealthly Americans. Shortly the
reafter the economy takes a nose dive. The Democrats claim that the the tax reform caused the economic woes and they push to get rid of it.
5. The picture on Jim's old TV set goes out of focus. Jim goes over and strikes the TV soundly on the side and the picture goes back into focus. Jim tells his friend that hitting the TV fixed it.
6. Jane gets a rather large wart on her finger. Based on a story her father told her, she cuts a potato in half, rubs it on the wart and then buries it under the light of a full moon. Over the next month her wart shrinks and eventually vanishes. Jane writes her father to tell him how right he was about the cure.
In this argument the arguer comes to the conclusion that by hiring
non-native speakers rather than native ones as language instructors, their
university will improve instruction for all languages and save money. To justify
the conclusion, the author cites a recent survey that most students in
beginning Russian gave higher course-evaluation ratings to classes taught by
non-native Russian speakers than to classes taught by native Russian
speakers. The author also points out that non-native speakers have a better
understanding of how to teach the language effectively. However, close
scrutiny of this argument reveals that it is unconvincing in several
aspects.
To begin with, the survey must be showed to be reliable before I can
accept any conclusion the author arrives at based on it. However, the
author shows no information about the number of students participated
in the survey. Moreover, since the survey only covers students from
beginning Russian classes, it is entirely possible that they are in fact not
representative of all those students learning Russian, which renders the
inference based upon it highly suspect.
In addition, the author fails to take into account other factors that may

版权声明：本站内容均来自互联网，仅供演示用，请勿用于商业和其他非法用途。如果侵犯了您的权益请与我们联系QQ:729038198，我们将在24小时内删除。