How To Recognize Bad Reasoning: A Fallacy Detective Review
DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
Of all the products I’ve reviewed, I think The Fallacy Detective is probably the most relevant and significant product I have shared with my children. We are shamefully in a time where the arguments and debates that are promoted the most are full of holes and outright lies. Our culture is conditioning us to NOT think for ourselves and certainly to just accept status quo without question. As believers we are taught to test all things, but its becoming increasingly complicated to do that when it disagrees with society. Today’s review, The Fallacy Detective, provides tools to recognize bad reasoning, something that is swarming our kids right now!
What We Received:
We were given one paperback book, The Fallacy Detective: Workbook Edition by Nathanial Bluedorn & Hans Bluedorn. It has 38 lessons and is over 250 pages long.
How It Works:
This book is divided into lessons where a particular concept is introduced and then exercises are provided at the end to practice what has just been introduced. The reader is introduced to what a fallacy is -an error in logic- at the beginning and then spends much of the book talking about all different kinds of fallacies that often get promoted. The lessons are usually just a couple of pages long with multiple pages of exercises to follow. Answers to the exercises are included at the back of the book. Also near the end of the book is a section on The Fallacy Detective Game. The game is intended for 4 players who understand what a fallacy and propaganda is.
What We Thought:
Logic and reasoning are things I am pretty good at on paper, but as soon as there are real people arguing back at me, I have zero skills. My sensitive emotional brain takes over and I commit all of the fallacies discussed in the book! On the other hand, I am married to an engineer that some days can’t see anything BUT logic and reason. We’re quite a trip, as marriages go. So, this book has been one of the most productive and fun activities that we have done as a family! We all need help understanding and holding each other accountable when we are reasoning things out and especially when fights pop up. The book is designed in such a way that a single person can read through it and do the exercises themselves. However, we read it aloud as a family and then worked through the exercises together. This format seems ideal for fleshing out arguments and debates. It claims to be intended for 12 year old children and up, but in our given format as a family, it worked great for our 8 and 10 year old. The 4 year old would holler out “Red herring!” quite a bit when a question was posed to the family, but he just wanted to participate. Still, just including the language about logic and weak arguments in our family is creating a healthier environment for discussions and understanding.
There are a lot of hot topics right now that might motivate you, but the need applies to everything we may encounter. The need to reason well and spot weak or false arguments is something far more valuable that piano scales or math formulas. Whether we’re discussing scripture, partner agreements or politics, our families need to be able to seek truth for themselves and not get caught up in quick arguments that easily pull the wool over our eyes if we’re not paying attention. I highly recommend every family to include this book in their family readings especially as children near adolescence.
Follow Fallacy Detective on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fallacydetective
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Are you looking for another perspective from older children, perhaps? Or maybe you would like to hear about Archer & Zowie, another book by the same authors? Check out the other reviews from the Crew through the link below.
