← Back to archive

What logical fallacy is this? I am right the world is wrong/everyone else is wrong/the system is wrong etc...

Historical archive only. New interaction is disabled.

Original Question

THE WRONG WAY


One morning, the Hodja mounted his donkey facing the rump & trotted off.


"Hodja," some folks called after him, "You've mounted your donkey the wrong way!"


"I'm sitting properly," the Hodja yelled back. "The donkey is facing the wrong way!"

Answers

2

From a logic perspective, a person holding a view that is contradictory to everyone else's doesn't have any bearing on whether or not that view is correct. But, to assume it does is a logical fallacy. To say that someone is inherently correct for having an outlying view would be the galileo fallacy and to say that having the outlying view makes someone inherently incorrect is the gadarene swine fallacy .


The example here sounds like it's supposed to be a joke, but treating it as serious, I think Hodja is making a factual error by not realizing that his job, as a rider, is to mount the donkey in a direction dictated by the donkey's body. But, maybe there is an alternate explanation, like that he needs to use something like a step ladder to mount his donkey, and the donkey was facing the wrong way in relation to the ladder when he got on.

The notion of logical fallacy is generally accepted as referring to an argument that might sound convincing but includes invalid arguments, deceptive claims, or illogical leaps to a conclusion.  So, to begin with, there needs to be an argument – some sort of reasoned presentation of points to support a conclusion, generally in the form or premises (statements) that lead logically to a conclusion.


What I see here is a pair of statements that express two different opinions based on viewing the situation from two different perspectives, one from the rider's point of view and the other from the donkey's.


I see no argument let alone any fallacy.  It could be part of a comic's routine and would probably get a laugh or three.

Logically Fallacious book by Bo Bennett

Want the full book?

Get the complete guide to logical fallacies by Bo Bennett.

Buy the Book

Master Logical Fallacies Online

Take the Virversity course and sharpen your reasoning skills with structured lessons.

View Online Course