Beginning in the 1970's, Saturday morning television featured educational spots of 30 or 60 seconds
as an attempt by the big three U.S. networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) to instruct the kiddies as they watched
their morning cartoons. These interstitial programs usually took the form of musical education short
films such as ABC's popular and now cult favorite Schoolhouse Rock (1973-1980) and CBS'
Bicentennial Minute (1974-1976). These programs taught such things as Multiplication tables,
Grammar, American government and Science.
Had NBC decided to teach principles of sound reasoning in the mid-1970's they could do no better
than to have the logical Mister Spock do the teaching. As an addition to the the two-dozen or so Public Service Announcements I created featuring the animated crew of the
Starship Enterprise, I have created a new series of PSAs featuring Mr. Spock called "Logical
Thinking."
I intend to make a dozen or so of these in each of which Spock
corrects some crewmembers after overhearing them employing a logical fallacy in their discussions.
Using the Vulcan science officer to educate them in proper reasoning is "Only Logical" as he states
at the end of each PSA.
These new PSAs were written seriously just like the ones that
were seen on Saturday mornings in the 1970's and 1980's, but when viewed with today's sensibilities,
they will probably seem quaint and perhaps humorous. They have been uploaded to youTube and they can
be watched below. Enjoy...
Curt Danhauser
October 2013
Correct Reasoning (Perfect Argument)
Argumentum Ad Populum (Appeal to the Majority)
Ignoratio Elenchi (Irrelevant Conclusion)
Petitio Principii (Circular Reasoning)
Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (Correlation is not Causality)
Straw Man Fallacy (Misrepresenting the Opposing Argument)
Ad Hominem (Attack the Man)
Ad Antiquitam (Appeal to Tradition)
Ad Baculum (Appeal to Force)
Confirmation Bias & Sunk Cost Fallacy
Ad Verecundiam (Appeal to Authority)
False Compromise
Halo Effect & Gambler's Fallacy
Ad Ignorantium (Arguing from Ignorance)
Single Cause Fallacy (Complex Cause)
Complex Question (False Dilemma)
Conjunction Fallacy
Fallacy of the Inverse
Affirming the Consequent (Converse Fallacy)
Argument from Incredulity (Appeal to Common Sense)
Appeal to Emotion
Argumentum Ad Nauseam
Hasty Generalization (Insufficient Sample Size)
Ipse Dixit ("It Simply Is")
Argument from Fallacy (Bad Reasons Fallacy)
Zero Sum Bias
Double Standard
Appeal to Motive
Wishful Thinking
Red Herring
False Analogy
Fallacy of the Undistributed Middle
Slippery Slope Fallacy
Not As Bad As
Entitled to My Opinion
Argumentum Ad Consequentium (Appeal to Consequences)
Argumentum Ad Novitatem (Appeal to Novelty)
Bulverism (Identity Fallacy)
Base Rate Neglect
Argumentum Ad Misericordiam (Appeal to Pity)
Equivocation (A Fallacy of Ambiguity) [Science Is Science]
