The Smart Person Fallacy

Logical fallacies are useful tools in putting to sleep arguments that aren’t going anywhere. In other words, logical fallacies are “Argument Euthanasia Tools (AETs).” The only problem with these AETs is that there aren’t enough of them to go around. With only a measly fifty or so fallacies, there are thousands, even millions of arguments that aren’t killed (against the will of their creator).

In response to such an unsettling dilemma, I have discovered a new logical fallacy that is often breached. This fallacy is called The Smart Person Fallacy ™.

In our everyday life, we find it logical to expect people to behave in the same manner as they always have. It would be illogical to suspect that my best friend is going to rape me every time I get shotgun instead of him. Based on my past experience with him, he doesn’t seem like the type who would rape another man out of spite.

Now let us assume that a person’s past behaviors include them to be right all the time. It would then be illogical to not give this person the benefit of the doubt. Lets say that I am teaching a 4th grader simple arithmetic. I solve every problem in his booklet flawlessly (yes, even the bonus questions). There is one more problem I haven’t completed yet, and I have the 4th grader give it a shot. He says the answer is 6 chickens, but I proclaim it is 10 chickens. If the 4th grader gives himself the benefit of the doubt, he is exercising the The Smart Person Fallacy ™.

A good example of where the The Smart Person Fallacy ™ is used most often, is with the issue of evolution. On one side of the argument you have intellectuals like Richard Dawkins and on the other side you have bible thumping baboons (usually found in warmer climates in the South and rural areas). For these half-wits to disagree with Dawkins about God, is a prime example of The Smart Person Fallacy ™. Not giving Dawkins the benefit of the doubt on an issue he knows all too well is illogical.

With this new fallacy, hopefully we can put to sleep arguments that seem to be in a vegetative state.