Why Smart People Believe Dumb Things

✍️ Inspired by Logically Fallacious by Bo Bennett, PhD

(Direct quotes cited from the Academic Edition, 2020)

🌍 The Paradox of Intelligence

It’s easy to assume that intelligence protects us from believing nonsense.
But as Bo Bennett notes, even the smartest among us are remarkably skilled at justifying our beliefs — not necessarily at finding the truth.

In the Introduction to Logically Fallacious, he writes:

“Humans have the capacity to establish and verify facts, to change and justify beliefs, and in general, to make sense of things. We do this by reason, and the process of doing so is called reasoning. While virtually all humans past the age of two or three are capable of reasoning, an alarmingly small percentage of us are really any good at it.”

Ouch — but true.

Being “smart” doesn’t mean we think critically; it often means we’re better at defending our biases with flair.

🧩 What Is Reasoning, Really?

According to Bo, reasoning is our brain’s built-in method for making sense of the world — by connecting ideas, testing beliefs, and drawing conclusions.

“Humans have the capacity to establish and verify facts, to change and justify beliefs, and in general, to make sense of things. We do this by reason.”

But there’s a catch: reasoning is only as good as the rules we use.
If our reasoning is based on emotion, bias, or misinformation, we can end up with very “logical” conclusions that are still completely wrong.

🧱 Understanding Arguments (The Building Blocks of Reasoning)

Bo Bennett explains that reasoning often takes the form of arguments — not the emotional kind, but the logical kind.

“Academically and logically, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something by offering reasons to accept a given conclusion.”

In other words, an argument = premises + conclusion.

🧮 Example (from the book):

Premise 1: Pizza is the best-selling food in America.
Premise 2: We can reasonably assume that ‘best-selling’ means that people like it.
Conclusion: People in America like pizza.

That’s a clean, deductive argument — the conclusion flows logically from the premises.

But if someone just said, “People in America like pizza,” without giving reasons, it wouldn’t be an argument — it would be just an assertion.

As Bo reminds us:

“If we just stated that ‘people in America like pizza,’ we wouldn’t technically be making an argument; we would just be stating a proposition, assertion, claim, or even opinion.”

🧠 Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning

Bo Bennett teaches two key types of reasoning:

1. Deductive Reasoning — when truth must follow.

Example (from the book):

Premise 1: All humans are mortal.
Premise 2: Socrates is a human.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

If both premises are true, the conclusion must be true.
That’s called a formal argument — its structure guarantees truth.

2. Inductive Reasoning — when truth is probable.

Example (from the book):

Premise 1: The sun has risen every day so far.
Conclusion: Therefore, the sun will likely rise tomorrow.

This type of reasoning deals in probabilities.
It’s what most of us use daily — in science, predictions, and life decisions.
But as Bo warns, “Because the sun could explode tonight, the conclusion is just very probable; therefore, this is an inductive or informal argument.”

Inductive reasoning makes us practical, but it also leaves room for error — and that’s where fallacies sneak in.

💥 When Good Reasoning Goes Wrong

You can’t spot fallacies without first understanding how arguments are built.
Bo explains that fallacies often hide within what seems like sound logic.

For instance, this sounds reasonable:

“If people buy lots of pizza, they must love pizza.”

But what if people buy pizza because it’s cheap, fast, or the only food nearby? The reasoning is shallow, not false — and that’s exactly the danger zone.

That’s how “smart people believe dumb things”: by trusting reasonable-sounding arguments that are missing valid reasoning beneath.

🧍‍♂️ Everyday Example: The Flat Earth Debate

Let’s take a real-world example that Bo might appreciate for its humor and teaching value.

Someone says:

“If the Earth were round, people on the bottom would fall off. That’s just common sense.”

This argument uses reasoning, but it’s faulty.
The premise (“people would fall off”) is based on a misunderstanding of gravity.
The conclusion (“therefore, the Earth is flat”) feels right — but it’s wrong.

This is a perfect setup for next week’s topic — what a logical fallacy is — and why identifying these reasoning errors is so crucial.

🧭 Bo’s Takeaway on Arguments

“Arguments are everywhere. You make them every day, and you hear them every day. Where you find arguments, you find fallacious arguments. Where you find fallacious arguments, you find fallacious reasoning.”

That single quote sums up the importance of this entire lesson.
To reason well, we must learn to recognize arguments — and question their logic before believing their conclusions.

💡 Quick Recap

Concept	Meaning	Example
Reasoning	The process of making sense through logic	“Humans have the capacity to establish and verify facts…”
Argument	A set of premises that lead to a conclusion	“Pizza is best-selling → People like pizza.”
Deductive Reasoning	If premises are true, the conclusion must be true	“All humans are mortal → Socrates is mortal.”
Inductive Reasoning	The conclusion is probable, not guaranteed	“The sun always rises → it will rise tomorrow.”

🚀 Call to Action: Build Better Arguments This Week

Pick one belief you hold strongly.
Write down the premises and conclusion behind it.
Ask: “Are my premises facts, or assumptions?”
Revise your reasoning to make it tighter.

When you start thinking like a logician, your opinions become sturdier — not because they’re louder, but because they’re better reasoned.

🔖 Reference:

Bo Bennett, PhD (2020). Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies (Academic Edition). Archieboy Holdings LLC.