Logic and Fallacies

Logical fallacies are an issue that occurs on a daily basis, in all age groups. I for one have had this take place in my life. To the other person, their reasons may seem true and legitimate, but chances are, they are the total opposite. One day, after a test, my math teacher told the class that we did poor (as a class) on the test we had just taken. He informed us that the other classes had done better than we had on that same test. My teacher then had an open discussion with us and asked how he could help us improve our scores.

I knew it was a logical fallacy of pity because my classmates were quick to take advantage of my teacher saying he was taking some credit for the poor scores as usual. He asked us if there were ways that he was teaching that we didn’t understand. The answer, in my view, was that they choose not to study. But did choose to tell him ways he could improve teaching like not giving us so many notes and to try explaining things more thoroughly. When my teacher asked my classmates what they could do to improve their grades on the test, they just came up with excuses. Some said, “We have so many classes that it’s hard to study”; this seemed to be the most common excuse. Others said, “I don’t know what to study.” They never took the responsibility for their poor grades and only blamed it on other things.

The situation was resolved because my teacher tweaked the way he taught a little bit. It was also resolved because my classmates started to study more or paid more attention in class. The only reason why I know it was resolved is because my teacher had another discussion with us after our next test and the next test as well as a few after that, which was just as hard as the last one just not really for me. He told us that we did a lot better and was impressed with our improvement.