Saturday, September 18, 2010

3) Common Beliefs and Peer Pressure

According to Epstein's text, it says that "Bad appeal to common belief (or practice)" is a fallacy. (Epstein) Basically, that Fallacy is based on what society as a group thinks about a certain thing. So, if a certain group of people (maybe friends) think it is OKAY to do this, then that means it is acceptable. Sometimes, peer pressure can involve this Fallacy.

For example, I went to an anime convention a few months ago. In order to enter the panels of the convention, you would need a pass which costs around $60 for the entire weekend. However, these passes are easily transferable so basically anyone can gain access inside the convention.

Unfortunately, my sister, my cousin, and her friends visited the convention without passes. All of them actually wanted to go inside the panels but they didn't have passes. My sister thought of a sneaky idea. She asked me if she could borrow my pass so that she can go inside the convention. I was actually scared to do it because the penalty for getting caught is getting your pass taken away and possibly being banned from entering the convention again. I told my sister that I did not want to give away my pass because I didn't want to get caught. This is where the Fallacy comes in.

She told me that she has seen people do it and that she's very sure I wouldn't get caught. At first, I rejected her request. I did not care if "everyone" does it because I'm very cautious. She kept telling me that I'm being too paranoid and that I should just give up my pass to her.

This was a Fallacy because she tried to convince me or tell me that it is okay to transfer my pass because everyone is doing it. However, I disagreed with her and never gave her my pass.

In the end, I never gave up my pass to my sister. I admit, I have seen people transfer passes but I do not want to partake in that even though many people have done it already.

- Pink Bean

1 comment:

  1. I enjoyed your post because of the excellent example you gave. Your example was not only one that demonstrated your point very clearly and the best part was that it was a real life example. The real life example gives a more relatable feel to your concept of peer pressure. The use of a real world example allows the reader to feel the peer pressure you were feeling to give your sister your pass. Your post overall is done very well it allows you’re your reader to see and feel the peer pressure you were feeling and understand the overall concept you were demonstrating.

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