Session 79: Spotting a Logical Fallacy

Welcome to Episode 79 of Brain Software with Mike Mandel and Chris Thompson! Technical difficulties abound! Something went horribly wrong, but here’s the podcast anyway… (it’s not that big a deal) Check out the show notes below and scroll down to listen to the podcast directly on this page. Keep sending us topic suggestions and show feedback. We love hearing from all of you! Here are the show notes for this episode: Podcast #80 is next! Mike wants to bring in some booze! Mike starts with a Gerry Kein cough, and mentions the Generation of Morons we see everywhere. Let’s talk about logical fallacies, children! You’ll hear these in politics, advertising, etc. Only 2 groups of people in the world… Upcoming stuff! Karl Smith arrives in April to teach the Kinetic Shift! Chris and Mike will be students in the class, so come and join them. Architecture of Hypnosis is nearly sold-out for May 2017. Get in now, or wait until June…Then there’s only November left… Mike does his really stupid old British guy voice, purely for his own amusement. Bandwagon is the first logical fallacy in the podcast. Mike admits that he used to be a telephone operator. Bell Canada sent a salesman to Mike’s house to sell him an upgrade. Note to Bell: It didn’t work. We all want to be part of a Tribe! Groups are safer than lone wolves. Chris invokes Robert Cialdini, who’s an awesome author! Mike’s wife decides by committee… Being a Brit, Mike manages to bring the Germans into the discussion.  Let’s invade France! Strawman! When losing an argument, redefine the terms of the argument and then attack the new definition. We must respect the elderly, because Mike’s getting close… A Red Herring is often used if you’re winning the argument. It’s pure distraction. Chris brings up reciprocity at this point, which is a good addition. Mike tells the tale of the patient NLP Trainer who kept spatially anchoring the point of interruption… Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc! (The Great Courses are awesome! Google them.) I got my car washed and it made it rain! Mike invokes Magical Thinking! Mike’s friend of 53 years, Brian McDowell thinks carpet fluff can change the course of a hockey game that’s happening elsewhere. Check cause and effect, and listen for Post Hoc! The No True Scotsman fallacy. Just keep redefining things until it works for you. Mike mentions Occam’s Razor. Friction doesn’t exist! It’s all about demons… The Gambler’s Fallacy or the Law of Independent Events. The dice and cards have no memory! There is no equilibrium to be restored. Chris talks about the stock market…he knows what he’s talking about. The taxi driver Webb, and the lottery tickets. Sound is getting weird now! Keep listening though, and just pretend someone’s tapping his fingers on the table in a senseless rhythm, and you’ll be okay! Being hit by lightning is more likely than winning the lottery! Would you pick the numbers that won last week? Human Givens says that strong emotions make us stupider! Even really good emotions do it. When you’re in love, you’re stupid. Seriously. Stupid. Mike says that good hypnotherapy gets the emotions involved. He invokes the example of a stupid inlaw he had to deal with. You can’t use logic to say that you can’t use logic! Thanks Aristotle! Circular Reasoning A proves B because B proves A… Chris makes a tedious point about spreadsheets, and Mike pretends to be interested. Ad Hominem is to attack the person, rather than refuting what they’re saying. “Your hat looks stupid, so I don’t have to listen to you!” Mike says that white dudes lie all the time! They don’t. Neither do other races, although Martians might… Get somebody angry and flustered and then point it out to win the argument! (It’s a cheap shot. Don’t do it.) False Dilemma is related to the double-bind. Sometimes there are gray areas…Politicians are great at this one. Empowering Question: How will I become more ruthlessly logical to see through all attempts to manipulate? Gus Grissom Update! Grissom has clearly gone into hiding. No sightings in awhile… Send your sightings to gusgrissom@mailinator.com Empowering Metaphor: Fred Penner and Melanie Haber… Ending: Come on along with the Black Rider! Please leave a rating in iTunes, and send in your questions by email to info(at)mikemandelhypnosis.com