I thought we were done with most of the fallacies, but there was a new one in this chapter called "fallacy of composition." Basically, fallacy of composition is when we assume that an individual in a group will share the same facts. It is also the same when a group that has an individual will share the same facts. This is a fallacy because it is a mere generalization.
One example of fallacy of composition would be stereotyping. In this case, it would be from the group to the individual. As a Filipino, I know about the stereotype that all Filipinos love to sing. Because of this stereotype, some people may assume that because in the mass media it looks like Filipinos love to sing, any individual who is a Filipino descent likes to sing as well. This is a fallacy because that individual may be different. In fact, he or she may not necessarily like singing. I know some Filipino friends who dislike singing. Basically, when people think of the fallacy of composition, they usually greet a person normally. Later when they see who that person hangs out with, they may think, "Oh. He is one of them."
Another example are groups of friends that share interests. As person that plays a lot of video games, I am classified as a nerd sometimes. If a person that loves to make conclusions based on stereotypes saw me, he or she would probably think that I hang out with other "nerds" as well. The fallacy in that is he or she cannot really assume that my group of friends only consists of "nerds." In terms of playing video games a lot, I guess I can say that some of my friends are "nerds." However, I also have friends who do not even play video games at all or do not fall anywhere near the "nerd" category.
In conclusion, fallacy of composition ignores doing further research by going straight towards conclusions and generalizations. That is a fallacy because individuals in a group, or a group that has a certain individual has many different interests. Because of this, it is hard to really determine how the group or the individual is really like.
I did not know a lot about the fallacy of composition but reading this blog entry helped me understand it a lot more. Your example was clear about what the fallacy looks like because it is about generalizing basically a stereotype of a group of people. Your first example about Filipinos was easy to relate to because I am Filipino to and I definitely do not enjoy singing and it has been assumed before that I do not like to sing. Your “nerd” example was also on point to what a fallacy of composition. Your conclusion about what it was also made it all very clear. I especially liked your last sentence that it is hard to determine how any group is like to generalize them because they are individually different from one another.
ReplyDeletePinkbean, you have a very interesting topic that you blogged about. First of all, I am Filipino myself and I definitely know what you are talking about of the stereotype that Filipinos love to sing. Well that's not exactly true. I am a geek or nerd myself, and people tend to stereotype them as awkward/weird people. What I mean is, people stereotypes nerds/geeks as antisocial and isolate them selves with video games and computers. That is totally not true! Also, the stereotype that Asians are bad drivers. Well, that can be true, but there is history behind it. If we were to go to a third world country and see Asians drive, in general their driving style is bad and dangerous, which is part of their society's standards.
ReplyDeleteI also found this section of the reading to be very interesting. You did a good job of explaining this concept in your first paragraph. The example of stereotyping that you used is definitely an example of fallacy of composition. It seems like there are stereotypes for every race now. I know that there are many stereotypes for Italian Americans ever since the MTV show Jersey Shore was aired. The second example that you used was also a good one. Just because I play sports, it does not mean that every one of my friends plays sports too. People too often think that groups of friends all have the exact same interests.
ReplyDelete