While working as an employee in a manufacturing concern, I used
to keep my lunch in the department fridge so that it would remain
fresh. One day during the lunchtime I saw my lunch as missing. I
assumed that the housekeeping staff must have taken it and I was
really upset about it. Later my colleague told me that he had taken
my lunch as he was feeling really hungry since he had fasted the
previous day. I could have used my critical thinking and realized that
the housekeeping staff requires prior approval before gaining access to
the department fridge.When I got promoted in the Finance department
of my company, I had to report to a new manager that had just
joined the company. I had heard rumors that she was really strict
and uncooperative. I was hesitant to work under her as I assumed
that she would restrict my growth in the firm. But after working
with her on my first project I realized that she was highly
professional, formal and reserved. I could have used my critical thinking
before judging someone based on false rumors. Later on, she became
one of the best managers under whom I have grown significantly in
my career. I get into arguments with customers at work almost every
day. I work as an auto mechanic so I get a lot of customers
who look up what could be wrong with their vehicle before they
bring it to the auto shop I work in. When they come in they
always think that they know what is wrong and what needs to be
fixed. I have the hardest time trying to convince those customers that
the internet has not actually looked at their car and can not actually
tell them what is wrong with their vehicle. But they are the customer
and if they want the wrong parts fixed or replaced, it is my job
to do what the customer wants.
Another argument I have a lot is with a coworker who has been
working on cars for over 30 years. The argument that we get into
is that I will be in the middle of doing something on a vehicle
and then he will come over and tell me to do what I am already
in the middle of doing. Then he will just start doing it himself
like I do not know what I am doing. He thinks that just because
he has been woking on cars a lot longer then me, that I do not
know what I am doing. Even though I have more ASE (Automotive
Standard Equipment) certifications then he has ever had. I can think
of several instances where I used fallacies to get someone to do
something. My job is to oversee the maintenance of my buildings
that have over 1.5 million square feet of space. We continually battle
what is important and what "is not' important and we can hold off
on completing. This is all based on staffing and on "the squeaky
wheel." Consistently I am forced with having to get my staff to do
things, that they don't want to do (for whatever reason). That is
the battle with Unions. Quite often I am tasked with telling them
to do things that "customers" have complained about and how we
need to get it done ASAP - all the while knowing that I'm the
one who wants it done and no one has really complained. This is
a constant that I must do to get my union subordinates to work
and accomplish tasks they feel are out of there realm. Usually they
complain, state they are going to file a grievance, but end up doing
it and not filing a grievance - I feel like I'm the boy who cried
wolf sometimes. But I need to get things done and sometimes telling
fallacies is in my best interest in getting things done. I can only
think of one story about where fallacy was used against me, but it
contains two different types of fallacies.
When I was working at a call center a few years ago I got
diagnosed with cancer. I was able to get the time off that I
needed for the treatments, but the recovery time was long, about 6
months. When I came back to work after I finished therapy I wasn't
able to come in to work as much as I wanted. after about 2-3
weeks my coach at the time was constantly chewing me out because
I wasn't able to come in to work every day, my coach knew why
I wasn't able to come in. He tried an inappropriate appeal to
authority.
The second part is on my side when he gave up on the harassment.
I thought the problems were over then, but about a week later he
came to me and pulled me aside and started to explained why he
was putting so much pressure on me. He said that my call-in's
were affecting his bonus. At that point, I had assumed that he
wouldn't understand what I was going through, and the next day I
quit the job and started looking for a new job to pay the bills.
I would say I'm not much of an argumentative person so thinking
of some arguments is tough. However my roommates and I have
gotten into some pretty stupid and simple disagreements. For example,
there was a huge debate over whether a hot dog is a sandwich
or not. There was a slight majority for the side that claimed it
was not a sandwich. There was no reasoning or evidence brought up
defending that side, just that "it's not a sandwich and that is just
how it is". Since there was a majority on that side, they convinced
an opposing debater to agree with them just because of the numbers
they had. I would say the person who flipped was biased in the
argument because he just didn't want to be a part of the "losing"
side. Another example would be a disagreement I had at work with
a coworker. The coworker and I were both working to resolve an
issue when I came up with a solution. My coworker disagreed and
said that my solution wouldn't work and when I tried to explain
why it would, she tried questioning my experience. She tried assuming
since she had worked there longer that she knew what was best.
She also transferred in from another store and did not know what
my experience truly was. In the end, my solution was right and
just because she had worked in the company for two months longer
(yeah that's all), she didn't know any better than I did. In both
situations, better communication could have helped us come to an
agreement rather than having split decisions on both matters. Through
my work experience as a server I have learned to make assumptions
about my customers wants or needs while they are in the restaurant
because more times than not they will fail to tell me what they
need beforehand. A few weeks ago a customer ordered a salad by
saying "I'll take a grilled chicken salad with greek dressing". On our
menu we have two salads similar to what she asked for, one being
a grilled chicken salad and the other a greek salad that chicken
would be added on to. By the way she ordered her salad I
assumed that she wanted the grilled chicken salad, however I turned
out being wrong. I should have confirmed exactly which salad she
was referring to in order to properly order her food.
I feel like theres many "little white lies" you're told as a child
that once your parents say it thats just how it is, no questions
asked. Like any kid my parents would tell me things like it is
illegal to have a car light on while you are driving or if you
swallow gum then it will stay in your stomach for seven years.
Really once I got older I could have done my research to see if
small things like these were true or not, but I choose to blindly
believe them. I actually still thought for the longest time that having
a light on in the car while driving was illegal. I work for a
truck dealership and specifically in the body shop. One of the
technicians is generally under the impression that his coworkers,
management team, and the Company our not looking out for his best
interests. Just a few months ago, he stormed into the office and
handed me a repair estimate that our estimator had written for him.
He didn’t agree with the repair time on the estimate and thought
it should be higher due to more damage being found on the vehicle
under very close inspection. The collision center that we work in is
a flat rate shop. Essentially, the more repair hours that are included
on the written estimate increases the pay for the technician, commissions
for the office staff, and drives revenue for the shop. He accused
the estimator of both being lackadaisical when he had initially inspected
the truck and also dishonest, insinuating that he was trying to cut
the customer some slack on the bill. He assumed these two things.
If he had simply asked the estimator questions regarding the estimate
he would’ve realized that this particular truck had never actually shown
up on site. The customer asked for an estimate by pictures only.
The technician also found out that the customer had agreed to pay
more for whatever we found and only was looking for an initially
ball-park figure. Some reasoning could’ve done the trick here.On another
occasion, I witnessed two of neighbors arguing loudly on the
neighborhood’s trash pick-up day. Apparently, there had been a history
of arguing between them which was the catalyst here. Neighbor one
had moved neighbor two’s bin from street the morning of trash day
and was wheeling it up the owner’s driveway. Just as he was nearly
finished, neighbor two walked out of the front door and briefly
thanked him, grabbing the can. After peaking inside, he noticed the
large cardboard box that had been in the can was still there, and
the garbage truck had already passed. He blamed neighbor one of
moving his can off of the street just as the garbage truck passed
in order to purposely return a full can. It took my security camera
to show that the truck did in fact attempt to raise the can and
empty the contents; however, given the light weight of the box inside
the can and the way it was lodged in, wouldn’t allow the box to
come out. Again, reasoning, critical thinking, and some questions could’ve
lead to a much more peaceful exchange. One example in which
someone tried to use bias to persuade me is when deciding to go
to online school many people were not supportive. The people who
I told about my decision wanted me to go to a big university
from my state, just like them. Many older people already had the
bias that physically going to college is the only way to get a
degree. They do not understand that times have changed, and many
people are getting online degrees opposed to going to big universities.
I think that if the bias was removed and people who were opposed
to online school investigated it and the benefits, they would have
saw why it was a good choice for me. Another example of in
which someone tried to use bias to persuade when I decided to get
a Chevy. A lot of people from my hometown work at Ford.
Everyone around me drives Ford cars and encourages people to drive
what they make. I found my Chevy for a reasonable price and
really fell in love with the car. If bias was removed from this
situation, I think that people would have been more open minded to
other options, besides Fords. They would have understood that I picked
my car because I liked it and not because of who made it. When
I decided to get married, several people within my family advise not
to do it because we were too young to make the right decisions
and that we were going to regret it because we were too young.
At the time my wife was 18, and I was 20 years old, this was
an argument made based on assumptions only because of our age.
Thank God 20 years later, we are blessed happy parents of 4 kids
if the argument would have been made based on facts and not only
feelings or emotions they would of use critical thinking. Another
example is when I bought my car out of the auction friends told
me not to do it because I was going to have a lot of mechanical
problems. However, I did some research before doing it, and it helped
because I was able to get a car for over seven years with no
significant issues argument was made using bias my friends have bought
their cars on dealerships if any have had any previous experience
with auction cars it argument would have been more impactful. While
at work on my current job, My absolute favorite think to drink is
a cold Coca Cola. I always bring one in everyday and put it in
the freezer. Everyone that knows me knows this. On this particular
day, my COLD Coca Cola was missing but there was a hot one
there to replace it I guess. When I noticed it, my co-worker that
was there with me assumed I was going to be highly upset. I
was for a second because, who would do this, that was my thought.
I assumed it had to be someone on the night cleanup crew because
I again assumed it would never be the people that knew it was
mine. Well low and behold it was the co-worker standing next to
me. Using my critical thinking skills reasoning skills, this argument
could have been adjusted because the night clean-up crew does not
have access to where the refrigerators are.I utilize social media
occasionally. I started noticing people with beautiful skin a lot. I then
started following them trying to sneak and find out more about their
skin regiments. I happen to make a comment in front of my
daughter about it. My daughter is 18 and well versed on social
media of course. She says "Mom, those are filters that people are
using to add a pop to their looks", I was looking with mouth
wide open in disbelief. That is when I realized that fallacy had
taken over me. They had me believing it was real. If I had did
my research a bit more with reason and critical thinking skills, I
would have noticed that it was a trend that was going on and I
was clearly not up on whats new in the world. When I worked
as a supervisor in customer service, Susan a customer service agent
came to me and ask if she might change work space. Susan
expressed that Kim the new worker next to her made her uncomfortable.
I asked, what has she done or said that made her uncomfortable?
While she didn't have any exchanges with Kim. Susan had overheard
other employees saying Kim was a troublemaker. Susan didn’t want to
deal with any part of that. Susan was paying more attention to
rumors. Making assumptions created on what she overheard from her
other co-workers. I decided not to approve Susan’s request to move.
I then ask her to think back to when she was a new employee.
How would she feel if that new employee had been herself? By
the end of the week, they were in the break room having lunch
together. Things changed when she took the time to form her own
opinion, instead of listening to the assumptions of others.Another example
is a lot of people’s social media page will lead you to believe
that they are fabulous successfully and happy with their life. The sad
reality is they are broke and depressed. You learn fast that people
do not always tell the whole truth when it comes to their social
media post. How many times has someone started talking to someone
on social media based on the picture they see on their profile?
Only to face reality when you meet face to face. Then you get
glimpse of reality when the real story comes out. I know you have
heard of these scandals were people we would never think the of
their character. Even when we know nothing more about them except
what they portray in the social media world. What I have learned
over the years is that you cannot always take things at face value.
If it’s too good to be true, do your research, chances are it’s an
illusion. zz My younger sister and I got into an argument and her
point of view came from what she experienced with her friend she
had from high school. She is going to school for PT and I am
going for business. There would be times where she would be difficult
to be around because she was so stressed about her classes. I told
her if she broke it down and took it in strides it would build
up so bad. She brought in the fact that her previous class mate
was so stressed that she dropped out and that that same scenario
was going to happen with her. I believe she was arguing out of
a biased opinion because she did not think of the possible reasons
as to why maybe her friend couldn't keep up with the work load.
I am not a very political person and I choose to be that way.
I don't pay attention enough either to where I feel like I could
make a credible argument. My fiance has always been passionate about
who he stands by and I do not entirely know if it's because of
his father or he really stands behind what he knows. Some things
in the media and what politicians speak on though do spark my
attention because of what they deal with. When I try to make an
argument or an opinion about the subject, he has very biased opinions
because if it against the party he is for, it is already wrong. He
also brings up the fact that I am open about not wanting to pay
attention to the politics so I may not know the whole picture. By
this time I just listen to what he says, but know that I have
more logical reasoning behind my side of the argument than just
being strong willed about a political side. On example of an argument
I can think of is one that I had with my kids several times. I
wanted to convince them to well in school and to care about their
grades. I emphasized that they needed to, at the very least, graduate
high school with strong grades. I would point out that if they
didn’t, they would have to work extremely hard to make a living
and would probably struggle financially for the most of it. I would
even use my husband as an example because he didn’t finish school,
and he does mostly hard manual labor for a poor wage. I think
I used bias because of his situation and the fallacy that you can’t
succeed without good grades.My next example also involves one of
my daughters. The dating scene is so different now and things that
were considered inappropriate when I was dating are now the norm
apparently. She had just started dating a guy when she decided to
go on vacation with him. I immediately starting making him look
like a bald person that she couldn’t trust when I knew nothing
about him. That was not fair to him or her because I was so
biased in my opinion, not only because of the way I