Logical Fallacies
📋 What it is
A fallacy is a common reasoning error that looks convincing but doesn’t actually hold — like attacking the person instead of the argument.
🗣️ Coach says
Fallacies are traps that FEEL persuasive but are broken inside. Learn the famous ones — attacking the person (ad hominem), false either/or, slippery slope — and you can spot and beat them instantly.
🧠 Memory hook
Fallacies feel right but are broken. Name it → beat it.
😂 Giggle
Why did the ad hominem attack get kicked out of the debate tournament?
Because it got personal instead of addressing the argument!
😲 Whoa!
The "straw man" fallacy is named for a scarecrow — it’s attacking a fake, weaker version of your opponent’s argument.
✅ Quick check: What is a logical fallacy, and why is it dangerous in a debate?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
A reasoning error that sounds convincing but doesn’t hold up; it’s dangerous because it can persuade people even though the logic is broken.
Spotting fallacies protects you from being fooled — and from fooling yourself.
🪄 Trick question: True or false: if someone uses a fallacy, their conclusion MUST be false.
Careful — think it through, then reveal.
False — a fallacy means the ARGUMENT is broken, but the conclusion could still happen to be true for other reasons.
A common misconception: bad reasoning ≠ automatically wrong answer.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Spot the fallacy: "You can’t trust her recycling plan — she forgot her lunch once." Which trap is it?