YOU GOTTA LOVE HER REASONING

Premise #1:  Bullets fired from guns can kill.

Premise #2:  Being overweight can stop bullets.

Conclusion:  The more overweight you are, the less likely you will die from a gunshot.

Based on that line of reasoning, one obviously stupid woman concludes that it’s better to be obese than to risk being killed by a gunshot wound.  The invalidity of her reasoning may astound you, but it is indicative of a deeper, more pervasive problem in this country.  Resorting to logical fallacies like this in order to rationalize beliefs and/or behaviors is the primary reason why America is in so much trouble.

Although this incident may represent the extremes of poor critical thinking skills, most Americans are frequently guilty of using faulty reasoning in order to reach preconceived conclusions far more than they realize.  The absence in American schools and universities of a requirement to pass a course in Introduction to Logic & Reasoning as a pre-requisite to receiving a degree prevents the general public from being able to filter out the excessive “noise” so omnipresent in our daily lives – television, talk radio, print media, the internet, etc. – that is masked as expert opinion and gospel truth.

So laugh at her logic – or lack thereof.  And then honestly assess your own.

Oh, and a little advice to Ms. Frazier: the next “bolt of lighting” that hits you will likely come from a double cheeseburger.