Civil discourse has fallen to the wayside in our society, but it can and should make a comeback. Getting into a debate can sometimes feel like a Kobayashi Maru, but the key thing is keep it civil as well as thinking logically. People are often guilty of a select few logical fallacies and these seriously derail conversations. These 10 fallacies of logic are not all of them, but this can just be a starting point. I hope after reading this, you will look into them further so you might be better armed in terms of dealing with ideological opponents.

1. Straw man

In this particular fallacy of logic involves rebuilding one's argument to make it easier to attack.

Example: If in a conversation, you (or your opponent) say that we do not live in a rape culture and in response you (or your opponent) imply that rape is in fact an issue. This is a straw man because at no point did person A say that rape isn't an issue or that they didn't say that it doesn't exist.

2. No True Scotsman

This can be described as an appeal to purity within a movement.

Example: If I were to say "No true anarchist could vote", that would be a No True Scotsman Fallacy, as there are anarchists who vote and anarchists who don't.

3. Appeal to Popularity

"X is popular, so it must be true"

Example: "My fellow Americans...there has been some talk that the government is overstepping its bounds by allowing police to enter peoples' homes without the warrants traditionally required by the Constitution. However, these are dangerous times and dangerous times require appropriate actions. I have in my office thousands of letters from people who let me know, in no uncertain terms, that they heartily endorse the war against crime in these United States. Because of this overwhelming approval, it is evident that the police are doing the right thing." (Provided by: The Nizkor Project)

4. Appeal to Emotion

This is one that gets used a lot, especially in politics. The appeal to emotion is using emotion (instead of logic) to manipulate your opponent.

Example: Celebrities doing their "How Many More?" video in regards to gun control.

5. Black and White

This states that there are only two outcomes in any given situation.

Example: When George W. Bush said "You're either with us, or you're with the enemy".

6. Ad hominem

To put this simply, it is attacking the person instead of their argument.

Example: In the early GOP Debates, Senator Rand Paul questioned Trump's candidacy; Trump responded by bringing up Rand Paul's hair.

7. Slippery slope

"X leads to Y so X cannot be allowed"

Example: An argument that surfaced before the Supreme Court decision regarding same-sex marriage was made was that if same sex marriage was allowed, it would be a slippery slope that would lead to people marrying children and animals. This is a fallacious statement as one doesn't lead to the others and children and animals cannot enter into a legal contract.

8. Anecdotal Evidence

Using anecdotal evidence is using either a personal story or an isolated circumstance to legitimize a position

Example: Using your experience seeing someone you know having lived a long time despite smoking to counteract scientific fact.

9. Burden of Proof

Every claim that you make should have something backing it up. The Burden of Proof fallacy is claiming that the Burden of Proof is on someone other than the person who makes a claim.

Example: Say you question someone on the existence of systemic racism. If they then say to "Educate yourself" or something to that effect, this is the Burden of Proof fallacy. The reverse of this situation would still be fallacious. It's sole intent is to derail the conversation because they cannot back up their assertion.

10. False cause

This fallacy can be better described as "correlation does not mean causation".

Example: Say you notice and increase in ice cream sales during the summer while also seeing an increase in homicides during the summer. It would be a false cause to say ice cream makes people homicidal.

These are just a handful of logical fallacies and by no means the worst ones. This list is just a microcosm of all of them and I hope you would look further into them. You can find a more comprehensive list at Logically Fallacious, where you can get definitions, examples, exceptions to the rule, and even a book on all of the logical fallacies.