Fallacies

Hello! This week I chose to look at this article: I Am Your Surgeon, and I Will Be Wearing This Hat - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

The first fallacy that I spotted was the straw man fallacy. This fallacy occurs when someone turns your argument into something that is easier to attack. For example, this article says that if you wear a funny hat you're not a good surgeon. 

The second fallacy that I spotted was the appeal to authority fallacy. This occurs when someone tries to prove some sort of a point, only because an expert said so, with no evidence or claims to back their statement up (Crusius & Channell, 2016). Everything should be taken with a grain of salt, and claims should be backed up with evidence! 

The third and final fallacy that I spotted was the false cause fallacy. This occurs when someone does something, and coincidentally something happens after. For example, I ate 2 hamburgers and gained 5 pounds! However, the hamburgers didn't necessarily cause the weight gain, other factors were also at play. 

References

Eric Bressman, Shay, K., Isenberg, R., Carvell, T., Saltzman, R., Gohmann, W. A. and Johanna, Bachman, A., Godard, A., Wallace, D., Shank, I., Shelstad, S., Solomon, W. A. and Ali, & Hogan, G. (2025, May 21). I am your surgeon, and I will be wearing this hat. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-am-your-surgeon-and-i-will-be-wearing-this-hat 

 Crusius, T., & Channell, C. (2016). The aims of argument: A text and reader (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.