Propaganda

Advertisements are everywhere: on our televisions, the magazines we read, on the streets, the internet, and even when we're not looking for them they may come in the form of pop-up ads, or flyers stuck in our car's windshield. They appeal to our emotions, rather than our intellect, however, whether we are aware of it or not, they often use logical fallacies in order to persuade our minds to believe in their argument.

Appeal to authority may be the most effective fallacy that is used nowadays, or at least one of the most prominent; people pay a lot of attention to Hollywoo actors, famous athletes, musicians, etc. There's a common belief which rules our society at this moment: being attractive or famous gets you attention. So, when we see our favorite actor talk about how efficient the diet pills he/she is taking are, we run to the nearest store to buy the same pills they were holding in our hope to be just like them. However, people are easier to persuade than that, they just have to see bikini-clad girls having a party with a certain brand of beer, to go and buy that beer. All of this is not only due to the images that are presented to us, but to the feelings they create in us. When people see the semi-nude women/men, they become slightly aroused, so next time they go to the supermarket and see the beer which was on the ad, they unknowingly have been conditioned to feel in the same way.

Propaganda is often defined as the attempt to manipulate or shape other's perceptions, and to cause a reaction which benefits the propagandist. Unfortunately, fallacies have become one of the major means in persuading us. We see them in many forms, such as appeal to authority, ad hominem or bifurcation fallacy, and it's clear they have become a pervasive form of influence in our world.