Are there fallacies in this response to my offered advice?
Historical archive only. New interaction is disabled.
Original Question
A friend is interested in giving a TED Talk on his theory of firstborn psychology. I think his theory is seriously flawed and he could be in for a major trouncing. I found the following advice on preparing a TED Talk which I sent him--"Identify what evidence supports your premise. Use empirical evidence instead of anecdotes. Respectfully acknowledge legitimate doubts and contrary evidence."
This is his reply. "The empirical evidence is that the whole world is functioning increasingly on the basis of individualism at the same time that individualistic tendencies of firstborns is increasing due to the increasing percentages of firstborns. If you are privy to all the dynamics within a family, then there are no legitimate doubts or contrary evidence to birth order psychology. All of the nature versus nurture results are explainable if you have all the information.
"Birth order psychology is an attack on free will. Ultimately, free will is doing nothing. Only when all activity has been turned over to the laws of nature such that you are only a silent witness to action are you free. Debating free will versus determinism is the wrong dichotomy. The correct dichotomy is between freedom and will. You cannot be free until God's will or nature's will is performing your actions.
"Will is trying. The only thing that a person can do wrong is try. Nature is natural and natural is without effort. Laws of nature are tried and true. A trial is a test. Nature has already performed all the tests."
This is his reply. "The empirical evidence is that the whole world is functioning increasingly on the basis of individualism at the same time that individualistic tendencies of firstborns is increasing due to the increasing percentages of firstborns. If you are privy to all the dynamics within a family, then there are no legitimate doubts or contrary evidence to birth order psychology. All of the nature versus nurture results are explainable if you have all the information.
"Birth order psychology is an attack on free will. Ultimately, free will is doing nothing. Only when all activity has been turned over to the laws of nature such that you are only a silent witness to action are you free. Debating free will versus determinism is the wrong dichotomy. The correct dichotomy is between freedom and will. You cannot be free until God's will or nature's will is performing your actions.
"Will is trying. The only thing that a person can do wrong is try. Nature is natural and natural is without effort. Laws of nature are tried and true. A trial is a test. Nature has already performed all the tests."
Answers
1I see no clear fallacies, but very poor scientific reasoning.
This is not the kind of empirical evidence TED had in mind :) This is an anecdote; a personal observation.
I have to admit, his response appears to be a Jordan Peterson level word salad. As a social psychologist, I am having a difficult time making sense out of his response. I am quite familiar with the literature on birth order and psychology as well. This is an area of psychological science, so if anyone attempt to discuss this area without using science—especially at a TED talk—I doubt that it will be received very well.
The empirical evidence is that the whole world is functioning increasingly on the basis of individualism...
This is not the kind of empirical evidence TED had in mind :) This is an anecdote; a personal observation.
I have to admit, his response appears to be a Jordan Peterson level word salad. As a social psychologist, I am having a difficult time making sense out of his response. I am quite familiar with the literature on birth order and psychology as well. This is an area of psychological science, so if anyone attempt to discuss this area without using science—especially at a TED talk—I doubt that it will be received very well.
Master Logical Fallacies Online
Take the Virversity course and sharpen your reasoning skills with structured lessons.
View Online Course