
In the near term, at least, the most common form of human/android cooperation will involve more assistance than autonomy on the part of the androids. This trend will be especially clear in the areas that involve higher-level thought, such as rhetorical fallacy detection. Nevertheless, that kind of cooperation can transform the knowledge workplace.
Image by Ordered_Chaos, courtesy Pixabay.
Rhetorical fallacies are linguistic constructions that cause communications to produce results that deviate from what rational exchange would have produced. In many instances, when people use rhetorical fallacies with intent, they're disingenuous, unfair, or even dishonest. But some rhetorical fallacies are so subtle that their users rarely realize that they're confused. What they're saying or writing is leading them to unintended conclusions that differ from what clear thinking would have produced.
The fallacy called begging the question is one of these. It has been distorting debates and decisions since the time of Aristotle — almost 2500 years ago.
Defining the fallacy
In its essentials, to beg the question is to appear to demonstrate the validity of a conclusion in a way that assumes at least one premise without evidence. More often, though, begging the question is defined as using in our argument the very conclusion we're trying to prove. Example:
The golden retriever is the best breed for families with young children. Since we have children, we should choose a golden retriever.
The passage above reads as if it was logically sound, but its conclusion is unproven. It provides no evidence supporting the first statement (golden retriever is the best breed). The ability of this fallacy to fit into illogical passages that appear to be logical is what makes begging the question so dangerous as a rhetorical fallacy.
A long tradition of scholarship…and recent confusion
The The fallacy called begging the question has
been distorting debates and decisions since
the time of Aristotle — almost 2500 years agofallacy we call "begging the question" was identified by Aristotle in Book VIII of Topics. An accessible commentary by Thomas Reid appeared in 1788, with a second edition in 1806. [Reid 1806] As Reid puts it, begging the question, "… is done when the thing to be proved, or something equivalent, is assumed in the premises." Oddly, though, since about 1990, in the English language, there has been some confusion. There is growing use of a construction similar in form to the phrase "begging the question," but entirely unrelated to its meaning. I refer to the form, "begs the question," used in a context in which it means, "raises the question." [Ammer 2006] [Klems 2008]
Grammatically incorrect as this form is, it does have one redeeming virtue: it is not a rhetorical fallacy. It's just bad English. If you find yourself saying or writing "begs the question," when you mean "raises the question," stop. Do not Pass Go. Back up and say, "raises the question" instead.
A role for artificial teammates
With regard to rhetorical fallacies, one might reasonably assert, "If even well-educated people have been using or have been fooled by rhetorical fallacies for thousands of years, then obviously, we can't do anything about it." Actually, that statement is itself an example of Begging the Question. It presumes, without evidence, that a solid education should be sufficient for preventing someone from using or being fooled by rhetorical fallacies.
But failure to notice a rhetorical fallacy might result from factors other than substandard education. For example, confirmation bias (one of hundreds of cognitive biases) can cause us to tend to accept a flawed argument when the conclusion is consistent with our existing beliefs. Strong emotional attachment to a conclusion can have a similar effect.
Controlling the effects of factors such as these requires discipline and energy, which might not be available at the end of a long day of contentious meetings. There is thus an opportunity here for AI teammates. [Kaelin, et al., 2024] AI teammates don't have "long days." They remember every interaction. They could be trained to detect logical fallacies in email, text messages, and meetings. [Jin, et al., 2022] Even before they become capable of human-level fallacy detection rates, they can likely be serviceable assistants to human fallacy detectors. Top
Next Issue
Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info
Footnotes
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and
found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Workplace Politics:
Managing Pressure: Communications and Expectations
- Pressed repeatedly for "status" reports, you might guess that they don't want status —
they want progress. Things can get so nutty that responding to the status requests gets in the way of
doing the job. How does this happen and what can you do about it? Here's Part I of a little catalog
of tactics and strategies for dealing with pressure.
Unwanted Hugs from Strangers
- Some of us have roles at work that expose us to unwanted hugs from people we don't know. After a while,
this experience can be far worse than merely annoying. How can we deal with unwanted hugs from strangers?
Getting Into the Conversation
- In well-facilitated meetings, facilitators work hard to ensure that all participants have opportunities
to contribute. The story is rather different for many meetings, where getting into the conversation
can be challenging for some.
Virtual Interviews: I
- The pandemic has made face-to-face job interviews less important. Although understanding the psychology
of virtual interviews helps both interviewers and candidates, candidates would do well to use the virtual
interview to demonstrate video presence.
Answering Questions You Can't Answer
- When someone asks an unanswerable question, many of us respond by asking for clarification. That path
can lead to trouble. Responding to a question with a question can seem defensive, or worse. How can
you answer a question you can't answer?
See also Workplace Politics for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming September 3: Contributions in Team Meetings: Advocating
- An agenda in the form of an ordered list of topics might not provide an appropriate framework for a given meeting. For example, if A depends on B, and B depends on A, we must find a way to discuss A and B together in some orderly fashion. Here are some alternatives to linear, ordered agendas. Available here and by RSS on September 3.
And on September 10: Contributions in Team Meetings: Scoping
- Some meetings focus on solving specific problems. We call them "working sessions." More often, we delegate problem solving to task teams, while meetings wrestle with the difficult task of identifying or "scoping" problems rather than solving them. Scoping discussions can be perilous. Available here and by RSS on September 10.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed
