| What is the “rabbit hole”? In the words of Mick West: “The phrase comes from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. Alice enters the bizarre Wonderland by following a white rabbit down a hole. In recent times a more specific usage has arisen, derived from the 1999 film The Matrix, where at a crucial point Morpheus offers Neo a choice. He can either take the blue pill and return to a normal life, or take the red pill and “see how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo, of course, “takes the red pill,” and the “rabbit hole” leads him to discover the true nature of the world. He “wakes up” from his programmed illusion of comfortable, bland monotony into a brutal yet genuine struggle for existence, a messianic battle against evil, manipulating overlords. This terminology has been directly adopted by various conspiracy communities. The rabbit hole is seen as a good place to be, a place where the true nature of the world is revealed. Beliefs in different conspiracy theories tend to reinforce each other, cutting a person off from other people, until they surround themselves with a like minded crowd. This has been a well-known fact for a considerable period of time. What is more problematic, however, is the fact that social media tend to produce a very similar effect for any kind of strongly held belief. So how to help people out of the rabbit hole, if almost everyone is stuck in one? There are a few steps that could help, although no universal solution is available. The decision in what kind of theories to believe is ultimately a personal one – no amount of external pressure could force a person to change their convictions. The role of an external person – a friend, teacher, youth worker, parent – can be only one of a partner. We can listen, discuss, provide information, reach out a hand – but it is up to the other person to take it. Below you will find a list of training activities you can implement with your class/young people with the purpose of gaining knowledge and abilities dealing with various aspects related to conspiracy theories. |
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What is a conspiracy theory?
The information bubble
Why do we believe in conspiracy theories?
Fact checking
What is critical thinking?
How to escape the rabbit hole?
Activity 4 - That’s a fallacy!
Description
In this activity, learners train to identify different types of logical fallacies.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this activity, learners will:
- learn to recognise different types of logical fallacies
- be able to resist manipulation by means of logical fallacies
- improve their skills to reason and debate
- become more confident in exposing misleading narratives;
Materials needed for implementation
- printouts of fallacies work cards (1 for every 3 participants)
- 1 printout of fallacies presented
- scissors
- post-its
- pens
- whiteboard/flipchart/wall
Time required
55 min.
Minimum / Maximum group size
3 - 21 person
Level
Beginner (no prior knowledge required).
Introduction
You can begin the activity with a discussion whether learners believe that debates can be decided by reasonable arguments - how often has been, in their experience, the other side of an argument they participated in open for reason.
10 min.
10 min.
Activity description
1. Divide the group into small groups of three participants. Each small group gets one set of fallacies work cards. They need to find which definition and example fit which type of fallacy.
15 min.
2. In turns, every group presents one fallacy with its definition and concrete example. The other groups check their own cards and share if they agree or not. Then compare with the fallacies presented and stick the presentations on the whiteboard/flipchart/wall.
5 min.
3. All learners return to the large group. They have 5 minutes to come up with their own 3 original examples of logical fallacies.
5 min.
4. Learners share their best example with the group. The rest of the group has to decide which type of logical fallacy is represented.
10 min.
15 min.
2. In turns, every group presents one fallacy with its definition and concrete example. The other groups check their own cards and share if they agree or not. Then compare with the fallacies presented and stick the presentations on the whiteboard/flipchart/wall.
5 min.
3. All learners return to the large group. They have 5 minutes to come up with their own 3 original examples of logical fallacies.
5 min.
4. Learners share their best example with the group. The rest of the group has to decide which type of logical fallacy is represented.
10 min.
Debriefing
Learners share what type of fallacy they have struggled with in the past - they try to recall occasions where they had been misled by them.
Then they debate whether knowledge of logical fallacies would help them in future arguments, or whether they think arguments are solved by other means than logic.
10 min.
Then they debate whether knowledge of logical fallacies would help them in future arguments, or whether they think arguments are solved by other means than logic.
10 min.
Adaptation to online mode
This activity is intended for face to-face-delivery. However, if needed, it can be adapted on an online format via a Miro-board (https://miro.com/).
Make sure to copy all fallacies work cards to Miro and to prepare a set with a different color for each small group of participants.
Make sure to copy all fallacies work cards to Miro and to prepare a set with a different color for each small group of participants.
Further resources
A video series demonstrating different logical fallacies with examples from the Simpsons show has been made by Colburn Classroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnMmXTVOjBY&list=PLcyVkNeXvb4hn57t2SYDj0HKdI3sz6qwN
You can get an appealing-looking pdf with logical fallacy cards in English from https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/.
A significantly more comprehensive list of fallacies is available in the The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/
You can get an appealing-looking pdf with logical fallacy cards in English from https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/.
A significantly more comprehensive list of fallacies is available in the The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/
References
Kramer, Lindsay (2022) 15 Logical Fallacies to Know, with Definitions and Examples. Grammarly.com: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/logical-fallacies/
