[Neurons] 2019 Neurons #39 COGNITIVE FALLACIES IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

2019 Neurons #39

September 2, 2019

Cognitive Fallacies Continued

 

COGNITIVE FALLACIES

IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE

 

In ancient times, tribunals accused certain persons (usually women) of being
"witches."  If a woman denied that she was a witch, the denial was used as
proof that she was a witch.  The reasoning was this, "Witches always deny
that they are witches."  Conversely, if she said that she is a witch, she
was burned at the stake.  If she denies it, she was burned at the stake.  It
was a double-bind cognitive fallacy-damned if she confesses; damned if she
denies!  There was no way for her to prove that she was not a witch.  The
accusation implied the proof.

 

Talk about craziness and irrational thinking-that kind of double-bind
reasoning condemns a person by the very act of making an accusation.  A very
similar thing happens today with name-calling.  You use a derogatory label
to refer to someone, and the label itself presupposes the very thing that it
asserts.  The fascinating thing about that is that when a person argues
against the label, that person subtly assumes the validity of the label.
"No I'm not stupid."  This tends to reinforce the label inasmuch as it has
the structure of a command negation.  "Don't think of blue."  "Don't
question my sincerity."  "I'm not dishonest."  "I'm not a crook." (Nixon).

 

In these double-binds, name-calling, criticisms, etc. there is a cognitive
fallacy.  What is the fallacy?  It lies in the fact that the person on the
receiving end is being called upon to prove a negative.  This kind of thing
happens a lot in language.  Here is another cognitive fallacy that's
incorporated into language and that is difficult to flush out because it
requires some thinking things through and some critical thinking skills.  I
bring it up now because calling someone a racist is today American Media's
Accusation Flavor of the Month.

 

I'm speaking about the cognitive fallacy within the phrase "unconscious
bias," "unconscious racism," or any other "unconscious X."   Let's begin by
considering the two words "unconscious bias."  If we use the NLP Meta-Model,
you will notice that what we have here first are two nominalizations which
have been tied together.  And when they are used together in this way, the
result sounds meaningful while it actually is not and does not point to
anything empirical.  You can tell that it is not meaningful when you start
questioning it.

           What do you mean by unconscious bias (unconscious racism)?

           Who is not aware of his bias?   When is he not aware of it?  In
what way is he not aware?

           What does he need to do to be conscious of his bias? 

 

Often, the person using this terminology will say, "It is just there and you
can't know that it is there, if you don't, that's evidence that you are
unconsciously biased."  Ah, the double-bind assumption of the very thing
which is being proposed!

 

To open up our understanding of this let's begin by de-nominalizing the
words.  Underneath the false nouns (nominalizations) are verbs indicating
actions or behaviors.  

Bias: an orientation, tendency, attitude, a thinking pattern.

Unconscious: not-conscious, unaware, not aware.

 

By turning the false-nouns back into verbs (and actions) here's what we
have: becoming aware of what we were not aware of, namely, our orientation,
attitude, and thinking patterns.  With this we can now ask questions that
will provide more clarity of thought:

           What actions are you seeing or hearing that indicate a bias
against certain persons, women, racial heritage, ethnic background, sexual
preference, etc.?

 

Now often those who use such language do so to promote a certain agenda.  It
is manipulative language and they are using it to get an unfair advantage in
their propaganda.   So they say things like the following to prevent the
phrase from being clearly understood, , "But unconscious bias is very
subtle, it is hidden in social and cultural structures," it is
institutionized bias.  Yet if the person shifts from an individual to
talking about a group (e.g., organization, society, country), then again, we
ask the Meta-Model questions to derive some clarity of meaning:

           What are the practices, polices, rituals, rules, ways of
operating (group behaviors) which we need to be aware of that dis-advantages
some people, those of one race or another, females, etc.?

 

The point in using the Meta-Model is this:  If you can't identify the
behavior of some concept and put it in terms of external actions and words,
or internal behavior such as thinking patterns, then you are dealing with an
unsubstantiated vague concept that only exists in a person's mind, and not
in reality.   It's an ungrounded assumption.  Without identifying a specific
behavior, it is a muddled double-bind cognitive fallacy, in other words,
craziness and irrationality.  No wonder the person cannot clarify.

 

To further push for clarity, ask, "How can I demonstrate that I don't have
an unconscious bias?"  If the answer is, "You can't" then that reveals you
are facing someone with a belief-system which cannot be falsified.  And
that, of course, makes it not only unreasonable and unscientific, but a form
of manipulation.  The structure of the person's argument is unanswerable
which is probably what the person wants.  Now he can rest confident (and
arrogant) in his belief.

 

Actually, there is no such thing as "unconscious bias" or "unconscious
racism" apart from behaviors, words, utterances, etc. that a person-at some
point in time-is unaware of.  Once we make it conscious, we can fix that
bias by adopting a more sane and appropriate way of thinking.  That's what
we do when we reframe a limiting understanding or belief.




 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Neuro-Semantics

P.O. Box 8

Clifton CO. 81520 USA

www.neurosemantics.com   look for the special offer

 

Author of the stunning new history of NLP--- NLP Secrets.  

Investigative Journalism which has exposed what has been kept secrets for
decades. 

http://www.neurosemantics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/NLP-Secrets-2_sml2.
png

 

 

 

 

 

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