Definition: The argument that states because the majority believe in something; it is true.
Infected: The Crusades were fought for Christendom against the Turks. Or fought for the Turks against Christendom, depending on what side your on. Thousands died brutally and painfully, because of a belief that their side of the world believed in. Rulers appealed to people through faith, not to argue the existance of or against religious figures, but men slaughtered each other, families were torn apart, for two things that could not only co-exist peacefully but offered no tangible proof that either belief is wrong.
Cure: The Roman Catholic Church in the Dark Ages and the Renaissance was extremely powerful and extremely corrupt. Anne Boleyn brought a new idea of religion, onto the stage that was adopted by her husband Henry VIII when he became head of the Church of England so as to curb Roman desire that was becoming over mighty, more like an army then men of God. The vast majority of the world believed in everything the Church did and said; that didn't mean the Church was in the right as was proven and altered.
Future Outbreaks: Look at every side of an issue and justify all the points each side has. Do not be a cow following the herd, sometimes the herd is going in the wrong direction.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Bandwagon
Definition: When one chooses to follow the recent trends to fit in with certain crowds.
Infected: The eternal blackberry versus Iphone dilemma. Majority of teenagers have them, at exceptionally monthly rates and expensive to get in the first place, even more so when they break as all phones especially those handled by youth are bound to do. One gets it to fit in, to be 'cool'. You don't really want one, your doing it to be accepted and in the meantime losing money that could have gone to something needed.
Cure: The book 'The Help' gives a look in the American South during the years after the civil war, when African Americans were still treated as second class citizens. The heroine bands with the coloured help against what she perceives as wrong behaviour from her peers, which for a time does result in her being a social leper but eventually she wins out and earns a strong sense of justice, accomplishment and love and respect from the people she helped.
Future Outbreaks: Stick with what makes you happy. Not what makes your neighbor, friend, boss or partner happy. We are given independent minds for a reason, they should be utilized.
Infected: The eternal blackberry versus Iphone dilemma. Majority of teenagers have them, at exceptionally monthly rates and expensive to get in the first place, even more so when they break as all phones especially those handled by youth are bound to do. One gets it to fit in, to be 'cool'. You don't really want one, your doing it to be accepted and in the meantime losing money that could have gone to something needed.
Cure: The book 'The Help' gives a look in the American South during the years after the civil war, when African Americans were still treated as second class citizens. The heroine bands with the coloured help against what she perceives as wrong behaviour from her peers, which for a time does result in her being a social leper but eventually she wins out and earns a strong sense of justice, accomplishment and love and respect from the people she helped.
Future Outbreaks: Stick with what makes you happy. Not what makes your neighbor, friend, boss or partner happy. We are given independent minds for a reason, they should be utilized.
Two Wrongs Make a Right
Definition: The excuse of doing something to someone, because they did something to you. Hence a wrong action becomes right in the face of someone elses error.
Infected: In a relationship, one partner cheats on the other. The other partner is hurt and unforgiving but instead of ending the relationship, the cheat on the other person.
Cure: A friend betrays another friends trust by spreading a personal secret. Instead of returning gossip for gossip the victim, remains the victim by discussing with her friend the issue and making a mature decision that only concerns her own feelings without entering into more issues.
Future Outbreaks: Always remember kindergarten lessons and your morals. What is wrong will always be wrong, and it cannot be right no matter how hurt or justified one feels. Follow your moral compass.
Infected: In a relationship, one partner cheats on the other. The other partner is hurt and unforgiving but instead of ending the relationship, the cheat on the other person.
Cure: A friend betrays another friends trust by spreading a personal secret. Instead of returning gossip for gossip the victim, remains the victim by discussing with her friend the issue and making a mature decision that only concerns her own feelings without entering into more issues.
Future Outbreaks: Always remember kindergarten lessons and your morals. What is wrong will always be wrong, and it cannot be right no matter how hurt or justified one feels. Follow your moral compass.
Guilt by Association
Definition: When one ignores the reasoning of an argument because they dislike the people or groups associated with that ideal.
Infected: The Roman Catholic Church disliked the new technologies and sciences, this seen most clearly during the Renaissance. Galileo was forced to recant his scientific notions or face the wrath of the Church and her followers. He did end up recanting, and had very few people on his side. People would not take him seriously because their love of the Roman Catholic Church had skewed their perception of Galileo.
Cure: Student Council nominations and winners are often based on popularity. A cure would be for the person with the skills, not necessarily just the friends, would win.
Future Outbreaks: Cut out emotions from conflicts that aren't involved in the matter itself.
Infected: The Roman Catholic Church disliked the new technologies and sciences, this seen most clearly during the Renaissance. Galileo was forced to recant his scientific notions or face the wrath of the Church and her followers. He did end up recanting, and had very few people on his side. People would not take him seriously because their love of the Roman Catholic Church had skewed their perception of Galileo.
Cure: Student Council nominations and winners are often based on popularity. A cure would be for the person with the skills, not necessarily just the friends, would win.
Future Outbreaks: Cut out emotions from conflicts that aren't involved in the matter itself.
Middle Ground
Defintion: The idea that meeting in the middle of two opposing arguments is right simply because it has relation to both sides in the fairest way possible.
Infected: Britain and many other Allies ignored Hitlers short comings even as he started to take back German land that the treaty of Versailles had taken away. This of course resulted in Hitlers rising star to the German populace and his military campaigns. In a sense they were meeting halfway as both stuck to their own agendas without over stepping into each others property until much later. This was clearly not the right choice.
Cure: Henry VIII met with the King of France early in his reign on what was known as a golden campaign to discuss the continuing eniminity between the two countries. Many issues were discussed, some resolved, but the middle ground technique was not used. The two sides both gained and lost some of their points but these decisions were more in the right then the middle ground answer of simply cutting Calais in half.
Future Outbreaks: Always use your brain, and do what is right not just easy. If neither extreme is the right answer, a bit of both won't always be the solution. Use all the people in the issue to brainstorm a new and separate solution.
Infected: Britain and many other Allies ignored Hitlers short comings even as he started to take back German land that the treaty of Versailles had taken away. This of course resulted in Hitlers rising star to the German populace and his military campaigns. In a sense they were meeting halfway as both stuck to their own agendas without over stepping into each others property until much later. This was clearly not the right choice.
Cure: Henry VIII met with the King of France early in his reign on what was known as a golden campaign to discuss the continuing eniminity between the two countries. Many issues were discussed, some resolved, but the middle ground technique was not used. The two sides both gained and lost some of their points but these decisions were more in the right then the middle ground answer of simply cutting Calais in half.
Future Outbreaks: Always use your brain, and do what is right not just easy. If neither extreme is the right answer, a bit of both won't always be the solution. Use all the people in the issue to brainstorm a new and separate solution.
Red Herring
Defintion: A red herring in simple terms is a distraction. It is when one faces an argument but veers away from their own point to point out something unrelated.
Infected: "The fact that the manager cut only some of the part time employee's hours in half is ridiculous and she makes us clean the break rooms!"
Cured: "The fact that the manager cut only some of the part time employee's hours is rediculous, and it shows favourtism which is unprofessional!"
For Future Outbreaks: Focus on the argument in front of you, and use what logical facts at your disposal. Quantity may sometimes seem better then quality but when an argument is being picked apart and so many discrepancies are revealed, it is highly damaging.
Infected: "The fact that the manager cut only some of the part time employee's hours in half is ridiculous and she makes us clean the break rooms!"
Cured: "The fact that the manager cut only some of the part time employee's hours is rediculous, and it shows favourtism which is unprofessional!"
For Future Outbreaks: Focus on the argument in front of you, and use what logical facts at your disposal. Quantity may sometimes seem better then quality but when an argument is being picked apart and so many discrepancies are revealed, it is highly damaging.
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