Lesson 10: Slippery Slope

Spot the Faulty Logic #

A student asks if they can have their phone during lunch to text their mom. The teacher responds, “If I let you use your phone, then everyone will want to use their phones, and soon no one will be talking to each other, and our whole school community will fall apart!”

Discussion: Talk with your teacher about this example. What seems wrong with the teacher’s reasoning?

How/Why It’s Often Used #

People use this fallacy to create fear about a decision by imagining the worst possible outcome. It’s often used to resist change or to argue against something relatively small by connecting it to something much larger and scarier. The argument suggests that once you take one step, you’ll slide all the way down a “slippery slope” to disaster.

It’s commonly used in discussions about rules, policies, and permissions. Parents, teachers, and politicians often use this type of reasoning when they want to prevent something from happening.

Slippery Slope in Action #

Did you spot the faulty logic? #

The teacher jumped from one student texting their mom to the complete breakdown of school community. There are many steps in between, and none of them are inevitable. The school could set reasonable limits, and most students would probably still talk to each other even if some used phones.

Second Example #

“If we allow students to choose their own reading books, next they’ll want to choose whether to do homework at all, then they’ll refuse to come to school, and eventually they’ll never learn anything!”

The Flaw #

Choosing reading books doesn’t automatically lead to refusing all homework or abandoning school entirely. Each of these would be a separate decision with its own considerations.