Beyond the Classroom🌍💡: Spot the Fallacy❗

🔍 Spot the Fallacy❗ | A Public Awareness Series

As part of the “Tech with a Human Heart ❤️” initiative, the “Spot the Fallacy❗” series is designed to raise awareness about informal logical fallacies that often appear in public discourse and social media—especially in times of disinformation and psychological warfare.

🎯 The series aims to:

1. Increase public understanding of informal fallacies and how they work.

2. Empower people to identify fallacies easily, especially in manipulative or adversarial rhetoric in social media.

3. Avoid getting trapped in time-wasting and emotionally draining arguments online.

4. Promote better responses to fallacious arguments in calm and constructive ways.

5. Encourage critical thinking as a vital skill for intellectual and social resilience.

📱 The content is tailored to local communities and shared on social media in a simple, visual, and accessible format.

🔍 اكشف المغالطة❗ | مبادرة توعوية موجهة للمجتمع المحلي

ضمن مبادرة "التكنولوجيا بقلب إنساني ❤️"، تأتي سلسلة "اكشف المغالطة❗" لتسليط الضوء على المغالطات المنطقية غير الرسمية المنتشرة في الخطاب العام وعلى مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، خصوصًا في زمن تتداخل فيه المعلومات مع التضليل.

🎯 تهدف هذه السلسلة إلى:

1. رفع الوعي بالمغالطات المنطقية غير الرسمية وأشكالها المختلفة.

2. تمكين الجمهور من رصد هذه المغالطات بسهولة، خاصة في الخطاب التضليلي أو الهدائي على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي.

3. الحد من الوقوع في جدالات عبثية تستنزف الوقت والطاقة وتؤثر على الأخلاق العامة.

4. تعزيز مهارات التعامل الواعي والهادئ مع مثل هذه المغالطات.

5. تحفيز التفكير النقدي كأساس للمناعة الفكرية والمجتمعية
   
   
   

📱 هذه السلسلة موجهة للمجتمع المحلي بشكل خاص، وتُبث على منصات التواصل الاجتماعي بأسلوب بسيط، بصري، وعملي.

What is it?

This fallacy happens when someone attacks the person instead of responding to the idea.

Examples:

🔵 Fan 1: “The team’s performance declined because the coach is too slow with substitutions.”
🔴 Fan 2: “You clearly don’t know anything about football. Looks like you’ve never played a day in your life!”

🔵 Rival team supporter: “Respect our team — we played a clean match.”
🔴 Angry fan: “You fans have no morals. Talking to you is a waste of time!”

🔵 Student: “Why is the course so repetitive and lacking in hands-on application?”
🔴 Professor: “It’s obvious you’re not a serious student. If you actually studied, you’d understand its value!”

🔵 Citizen in a certain country: “Why haven’t we seen a real housing project for the poor yet?”
🔴 Politician: “Clearly you’re just bitter and ungrateful. You hate the country’s success, and honestly, you don’t even understand the economy!”

🔵 Young artist: “I tried to blend traditional heritage with modern music.”
🔴 Response: “Just from your voice it’s clear you’re not a real artist… Stick to TikTok!”

Notice in all the responses...
Instead of addressing the actual point, they attack the person!

When someone’s argument is weak, personal attack becomes their only defense.

✅ Aware and Smart Response:

“Let’s stick to discussing the idea itself — no need for personal attacks.”

Important tip:
When you notice this fallacy being used against you, call it out.
Tell the person:

“That’s a fallacy. Answer the question instead of changing the subject.”
“I can see what you’re trying to do, and I won’t let you bait me into personal drama.”

Stay focused. Don’t let them drag you down into unproductive, personal arguments.

Dr. Tahani Alkhatib
❤️ Tech with a Human Heart

One of the most common informal logical fallacies on social media and in everyday conversations.

What is it?
It’s a misleading argumentative tactic where someone distorts or misrepresents an opponent’s argument to make it easier to attack. Instead of responding to the actual idea, they attack a twisted or exaggerated version of it that the other person never said or meant.

The goal of this fallacy is to:

• Misrepresent the other person's words

• Twist their ideas
  By creating a "strawman" — like a scarecrow or dummy — that is easier to attack than the real argument.
  
  

Instead of responding seriously to the actual idea, the person builds a weak, false version of it just to knock it down.

Examples:
🔵 Employee: "We need fairer work organization; some staff are overwhelmed."
🔴 Reply: "Oh, so you want people to work for just one hour and leave? What about discipline?"

🔵 Employee: "We can’t keep doing unpaid overtime forever."
🔴 Manager: "Right... you guys just want salaries for sitting at home."

🔵 Student: "The exam was too long and had questions from outside the syllabus."
🔴 Professor: "So you don't want exams at all? Just want to pass without effort?"

🔵 Young person: "Why aren’t there enough opportunities for youth? We need real support."
🔴 Reply: "You just want everything handed to you without effort?"

🔵 Activist: "Let’s avoid insults and personal attacks, and engage ethically even with those we disagree with."
🔴 Reply: "Oh, so now we should just coddle the wrongdoer and not call out their faults?"

In all these examples...
Instead of replying to the original argument, the person creates a misleading, easier-to-attack version of it.
The debate shifts to this distorted version, not the real point.

✅ The Right Response:

Don’t let someone drag you into that trap.
Refuse to continue the discussion if it goes down that path.
Call it out — tell them directly:

“That’s not what I said. Don’t twist my words. Let’s talk about what I actually said, not something I didn’t.”

Strawman fallacies destroy honest dialogue, especially on social media.
 

When you see a strawman in conversation:
🔹 Restate your actual point clearly.
🔹 Refuse to engage with the fake version.
🔹 Insist they respond to what you really said.
🔹 Don’t let them distract, drain, or intimidate you.

Dr. Tahani Alkhatib
❤️ Tech with a Human Heart

The Appeal to Emotion fallacy is one of the most common in everyday speech, on social media, and even in political propaganda and advertising.

It is a misleading persuasion technique that replaces rational argument with the triggering of a strong emotion in you (pity, fear, admiration, anger, embarrassment…) in order to push you to accept an idea or decision without critical thinking or logical evidence.

Instead of giving you a clear, logical reason or evidence, the speaker plays on your feelings to convince you of their position.

Types of Appeal to Emotion

1. Appeal to Pity
Trying to gain sympathy to justify a position or escape an argument.

🔴 Student: “Professor, if you don’t pass me, I’ll lose my scholarship. I’ve been through personal hardships… it would be cruel to lose everything.”

2. Appeal to Flattery
Excessive praise aimed at softening your stance or making you agree.

🔴 Ad: “These luxury perfumes were designed especially for special people like you.”
🔴 Employee: “You are the best CEO our company has ever had, and I’m sure you seek expertise worthy of you. I’m the best person to assist you because I trust your rare wisdom and refined thinking.”
🔴 Manager: “You’re the smartest employee I have, and I’m sure you’ll agree to stay after hours so we can finish the work.”

3. Appeal to Fear
Stirring anxiety or threatening danger to push the idea forward.

🔴 Coach: “If we don’t win the next match, the club will lose its legacy!”
🔴 Economist: “If you don’t support my economic plan, we’ll lose national security and the economy will collapse!”
🔴 Politician: “If you don’t vote for me, the country will fall into the hands of those who will destroy it.”

4. Appeal to Pride
Arousing collective pride to steer opinion.

🔴 Hospital director: “All our doctors and nurses gladly work overtime because they take pride in serving the hospital they belong to, day and night.”
🔴 Administration: “Yes, the new national culture curriculum is long and has a lot of memorization, but that’s because it reflects pride in one’s country.” (Note: Length and difficulty of a curriculum don’t necessarily equal patriotism.)
🔴 Broadcaster: “Anyone who doesn’t join us in this (policy, project, dialect, dish, song, celebration, dessert, tradition…) is not a true patriot and is erasing our national identity.”

5. Appeal to Anger or Hatred
Stirring feelings of hostility or rage to make you take a position or action without logical evidence.

🔴 Sports media: “Any real fan must attack the referee because he wronged our team!”
🔴 Broadcaster: “Look how the fans of country (X) insulted us! Everyone from that country is an enemy trying to humiliate our nation—how can we stay silent?!”

6. Appeal to Guilt or Embarrassment
Making the other person feel guilty or ashamed so they’ll agree or act as you want.

🔴 Mother: “My dear, if you take your share of the inheritance, your brothers will be upset with you—they have more responsibilities than you—and the family will be torn apart. We’re family; we don’t let inheritance get between us.”
🔴 “If you don’t attend the wedding, I’ll be upset with you for life.” (Embarrassment/guilt)
🔴 “You really won’t hire me at your company when I’m your cousin (or old friend, former colleague, in-law…)?!” (Embarrassment/guilt)
🔴 Director: “If you don’t buy a ticket (to the concert, play, festival…), you’re not supporting local art, your country’s economy, or its reputation.” (Guilt)

Note:
In all these cases, the person does not provide a logical reason or strong evidence for their claim. They try to ride the wave of your feelings—fear, pity, flattery, anger, hatred, guilt—to shut down your critical thinking.

Why do they do this?
Because they want you to stop thinking about the issue logically and accept their view without questioning.

The right response:

• Notice when someone is pulling you away from reason toward emotion.
  
  

• Always ask: “Where’s the evidence? Is this a proven fact or just your opinion?”
  
  

• Separate your feelings from your judgment—especially in public or high-stakes issues that could create divisions, particularly in times of crisis.
  
  

A fitting reply:
“I empathize with you and I have human feelings, but I won’t let them become misleading impulses that push me toward unfair or untrue opinions. I want to hear the logical evidence.”

Remember:
Human emotions are one of our most beautiful qualities—but they can become our worst when used as a dangerous tool for manipulation, especially when aimed against logic, truth, and collective awareness.

Dr. Tahani Al-Khatib
❤️ Tech with a Human Heart