There is a whole process called critical thinking. It's something everyone thinks they do but very few actually perform. It's the next step beyond philosophical logic. Instead of evaluating the arguments and structure of a syllogism to meet a logical form such as modus ponens, for example, statements are rated against a huge set of logical fallacies that are representative of the common logic errors in argumentative discourse.
If you want to watch someone really have a meltdown, throw their logical error in their face and tell them their argument says nothing.
Here's an example: Someone asks, "President Bush is a bad president because all his policies suck. Do you agree?" If you agree then you are being suckered into the logical fallacy. If you disagree then you are being suckered into the logical fallacy. Why? The logic of the statement is called false dilemma. It presents an either/or requirement for something that does not have an either/or answer. The critical thinker realizes this and understands that such a blanket statement masks policies that work. You may say to yourself, "What policies work?" Well now, that is what the critical thinker must root out. Is the original statement based on media reports that only present governmental errors? Is it possible that there is really a media bias? You, as a critical thinker, must not wallow in the statement. You must step outside the statement and evaluate the circumstances of the statement. I know this may come as a shock but there are people who will tell you what they think and will cling to the belief be it right or wrong. You can either accept it at face value (like the rest of the world) or become your own thinker. By the way, can anyone tell me what logical fallacy I committed in the last sentence?
Logical fallacy is used all the time to dupe unsuspecting people. The advertising industry lives and dies by logical fallacy. Politics would be no fun without logical fallacy. It is the critical thinker who transcends the rhetoric to see an argument for what it really is. The secret is to never take anything at face value.
Now all of this brings me back to the issue at hand. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law and is also no excuse for believing what is told to you. If something is so disconcerting you consider suicide you might want to look into the details of the issue a bit more before giving up the ghost.
Always, always, always remember that news is a business. It will always go where the profit is. What it destroys and who it kills is secondary.
