Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orfew, post: 2549901, member: 74968&quot;]I cannot count the number of times I have used this line on first year students &quot;Things are obvious only if they are already known&quot;. The &#039;this is obvious&#039; non-argument is used to shut down debate and not to pursue thoughtful conversation. It shows a reluctance on the part of the person who made the utterance to examine their own underlying assumptions.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is related to the bandwagon hypothesis and the bandwagon effect. People often jump on the bandwagon even when their underlying beliefs are in conflict with the stated goals of the movement in question. Consider elections and how people will desert the sinking ship once their candidate is perceived to be losing. People want to belong to the winning side. Just because a position is popular does not mean it is correct. In other words 50,000,000 Frenchmen can in fact be in error.</p><p><br /></p><p>Whenever someone starts an argument with &#039;everybody knows&#039; or &quot;it is obvious&#039;, they have already conceded their argument with the use of a logical fallacy.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in