My Informal Fallacy Is YOUR Problem

It has been evident throughout human history (at least since the bicameral period) that humans don't like to be the ones to be blame, and we often send the blame to someone else. Evidence : Nuremberg Defense, Twinkie Defense, Charles Manson Defense, and What-should-I-do? Defense (see my The New Defense : What Should I Do? posting). A new one I have just recently encountered with one of my roommates is : if I am at fault it is because it is your fault, therefore I have no fault whatsoever. To see how this informal fallacy plays out, some background is needed.

About two months ago I had a suspicion that one of my roommates or one of their friends / significant others was using my soap and shampoo. Of course, because I was using the soap and shampoo it was hard to tell if it was only me. So about three weeks ago I bought a second reserve of toiletries and kept them in my room until I needed to shower. After a week it was quite clear that soap and shampoo have a half-life of about two weeks, that or someone was using my shampoo and soap without my permission! I could have confronted them about it. But I decided that since the soap and shampoo in the shower is my property, then I can do whatever I want to it. So I add some urine to the shampoo mix, and micturated on the soap. I kept this up for about two weeks.


Then one of my roommates approached me last night and angrily inquired as to if I was "pissing" in the shampoo (that is my shampoo). Well, now the guilty has been revealed. But, oh no, that's not my roommate's problem, it's my problem. Then my roommate proceeded to tell me : "How dare you piss in shampoo bottles!" Great red herring fallacy. The problem clearly isn't that they were essentially stealing from me, it's that it is blasphemous to urinate in shampoo. Therefore I am at fault. I am at fault for defiling something at was mine. 

It's right on par with killing my cat (even though I don't have a cat). It's my cat, I can do what I want with it, and if I want to poison it, then that is my right. NO! The cat is a living sentient entity, and you can't kill it. Therefore I cannot urinate in my shampoo (this is a generalization of what actually was said). Nice straw man fallacy.


It is as if we are all living like children being blamed or commanded by parents with illogical fallacies (parents typically use fallacious dialogues to rear their children, typically with bifurcation, or false dilemmas).


If I may redirect towards a previous posting Do You Know What You Are Asking For?! If people really want to return to the "Golden Days", to a time of simplicity, then our manners of interacting with one another need to be simpler. I have a suggestion : Take responsibility for your own actions. It makes things far more simpler, because then we don't have to navigate the blame web.

In the words of Bill Maher:
"Grow up or die." (Yes, that is a bifurcation fallacy)