There are 2 choices, 1 vote for cafegroundzero's debate

Poor communication, deffective thinkling, or faulty logic

I would like to refer to a Mr. Kelly who wrote this paragraph in a thread in Yahoo Questions and Answers, as to why some people or many people rather, chose to express their selves in generalities, often times sweeping, making blanket accusations (sounds like Linus trying to be a Prosecutor) or stereotypes which to attack.

Mr. Kelly pointed out that there are "quite a few people have never had courses in the Fundamentals of Logic, ... critical thinking.

"Even 30 years ago I did not get the course until university.
That said, fallacies like hasty generalizations through to 'Ad Hominem' attacks, begging the question through to setting up a straw man are very easily to walk into even when you are well trained."

His point, methinks, is well made in a concise way. I hope to share this as a way of encouraging others here to read and educate their selves and others on how to think critically and express their selves in a more concise, logical manner.

  • On the importance of learning critical thinking and clear communication
    In the short time, relatively speaking, that the internet has been in the public use, there have mushroomed and spawned a plethora of electronic sites and methods of expressing one's views, little soap boxes you might say. However, with the increase in opportunities to be "heard" there has no been by any means any corresponding improvement in the quality of thinking and communication, or rather rhetoric and self-expression. True, there are some very good writers, artists, and philosophers throughout the wastelands of cyberia and the nodes of blogovia and the internet, but too many use the internet and the computers which are linked by it to pass off very mediocre or poor drivel.

    It is as if we humans had become some sort of electronic virus or bacteria, and began to clog up the very space we find or create with foul waste.
    Voted for by cafegroundzero.
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  • For those of you who don't know what he's talking about
    some common philosophy class terms:

    Personal Attack (ad hominem)

    Guilt By Association

    Straw person - a distracting irrelevant comment

    Inconsistency

    Glittering Generalities

    Appeal to Authority - using an important or well-known persons opinion as evidence to support a position

    Post Hoc - assumption that one event controls a following occurrence (e.g. the roosters call makes the sun rise)

    Begging the question - a line of questions leading to a predetermined answer

    Hasty Conclusion - not thinking through what is presented

    False Dichotomy - giving two possible choices of answer, when far more are present

    Card-Stacking = only counting facts in favour of ones argument

    Bandwagon = going with the most popular answer
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