Can you outsmart the college admissions fallacy? - Elizabeth Cox

Explore the circular reasoning fallacy, which occurs when the end of an argument comes back to the start without having proven itself.

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It’s 1990. A prospective student has filed a complaint about Virginia Military institute’s admissions policy that excludes women. The state argues that VMI’s single sex education is an “important governmental objective” and that the exclusion of women from VMI is essential to that objective. Can you spot the problem with this argument? Elizabeth Cox explores the circular reasoning fallacy.

Lesson by Elizabeth Cox, directed by TOGETHER.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak H, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora Slydell, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Kent Logan, Thomas Mee, Maryann H McCrory, Mona Vakil, Victoria Dewey, Alex Lorang, Declan O'Donoghue, Blas Borde, John Hellmann, Poompak Meephian, Chuck Wofford, Daniel Erickson, frank goto, Jayson Hauschild, J D Wallace, Marq Short, Chen Jun Xiang, Adam Pagan, Behzad Farhanieh, Anders Sørheim and Wes Winn.

[jeffrey]

"And just because something is true, doesn't make it a proof of what is right" that's hella poetic love it👌

[elil]

I love how every time the people gasp, it is not because they are seeing a demon, but because the demon is only wearing boxers

[minecraftmatthew]

In short, circular reasoning is just your parent saying “Because I said so.”.

[amateraceon]

Are we just not going to talk about the fact that the Drake pointing meme appeared in an official Ted-Ed video?

[stevenmosco]

The demon of reasoning, not the hero we deserve, but the hero we needed

[SweetDonut_with_sprinkles]

another way to disccover whether an argument is based on circular logic is to test its reversibility. for example: I have high grades because i'm smart --> I’m smart because I have high grades.

[shinyagumon]

We really need more demons of Reasons in our society.

[zypherry]

He has been through so many fallacies. He can answer almost any question, he can figure out fallacies. But one question remains... HOW DOES HE KEEP FORGETTING HIS CLOTHES!

Edit: WAIT 1.3k LIKES WHAT

[crazyrocket]

This is part of the reason the scientific method is so important: we strive to prove every assumption wrong so we don't fall in similar traps while still allowing us to build foundations for what to research next

[puzzLEGO]

Assumptions like axioms are necessary in establishing an argument, but a faulty assumption should be questioned, especially one based in the answer which follows from the faulty assumption in the first place

[nathanlamberth]

There’s nothing wrong with making decisions based on assumptions, but there’s a time when assumptions needed to be challenged themselves

[omegadeadpool]

As a Collage student myself, i can confirm that i indeed cannot

[robertjarman]

When the geocentric solar system concept was hypothesized, it was almost impossible to prove that it wasn´t true. The heliocentric model didn´t even explain things much better with weirdness of the retrograde motions until Kepler added ellipses to the model. Most well accepted theories of most religions and cultures before their society was able to get their hands on telescopes accepted the idea that the Earth was at the centre, and it would probably be an unscientific idea to accept otherwise, to leap from the solution that is simpler to the more complicated answer without a significant amount of evidence. Aristotle being bad at arguing wasn´t the death knell. Lenses were.

[Meow-vijb]

the demon of reason also quite enjoys his memes. a man of culture

[danielcripe]

Begging the question is a little more than just circular reasoning. If someone was accused of murder in a courtroom, and the prosecutor said to the defendant, "So, why did you do murder him?" The prosecutor would be Begging the Question, because the prosecutor has yet to prove that the defendant is the murderer, but is making a statement which already assumes it. This isn't necessarily circular reasoning, but depending on the situation it can be. As someone who has graded many logic papers I would have to require my student to explain this distinction in order to get full points. So, 9/10 Demon of Reason.

[netba_art]

i've never clicked so fast, i love this series so much

[halimalnami]

THE GREATEST CHARACTER IN EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS OF ALL TIME

[maxx]

Did anyone notice their take on the Drake meme? 1:44 whoever animates these deserves a raise.

[selviangelita]

I love this Demon of Reasons episode with all my heart, please keep it going, it is so good

[shauryaaher]

The Demon of Reason brings people to their senses. I like his sarcasm, his way of speaking and his intelligence.