Comparing apples and oranges

Have you ever tried to compare two things only to find that they don’t really compare at all; they don’t fall into the same category, or the same context? This is known as the apples and oranges fallacy. It happens a lot. I’ve seen people do it many times; I’ve even done it myself, unfortunately. The problem is that it’s a seductive trap to fall into when you’re trying to argue a point. And you may not know you’ve done it until after the fact.

What seems to make sense on the surface doesn’t always when we delve deeper into it. These are the places where arguments fall apart and implode under the weight of their own half-truths. It’s like saying, my modern-day car is better than your covered wagon. Well, of course it is. One postdates the other by over 100 years. There have been steady advancements in technology from the covered wagon that have slowly led up to the point of today where we have modern cars. That being said, that particular covered wagon in the comparison may have been the best in its day. It could have been the best covered wagon that money could buy back then, but it still doesn’t compare to even the worst of modern cars made today. (Although, some might like to make the comparison when they’re in a fit of rage after their car breaks down on the side of the road. But, I assure you, they only speak in hyperbole.) But, again, this is where context comes in. You have to compare things in their proper context, otherwise it’s a false comparison. Also, the two each served a different utilitarian purpose. A car is used mainly for transporting of people, while a covered wagon could be used to transport other goods and staples.

But this is what I believe is wrong with much of our political debate today: false comparisons of facts convince people of things appearing to be true but aren’t true in reality. You can make things seem to be one thing, while they are, in fact, something else entirely. It’s in picking these things out and identifying them where it begins to be a challenge. I guess the name of the fallacy describes it well; neither apples nor oranges have the same basic characteristics so that they would qualify to be compared on the same level. They only possess similarities in peripheral or incidental ways that could lead you to falsely conclude that they warrant a valid comparison: they both grow on trees, they’re both round in nature, and they’re both fruit. But the comparison falls apart in all the ways that matter: they are from an entirely different family of fruit, they have different texture, and they grow in different climates.
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Maybe we need to talk to our politicians about apples and oranges. Maybe we can convince them that just because they can compare them doesn’t mean that they should. Sometimes they don’t seem to realize what they’re doing. I mean, I think I could do a better job managing the controls of power in Washington. I have experience: I ran a lemonade stand when I was 5. Wait, that’s probably an apples and oranges thing again, isn’t it? (Apples and lemons, maybe) Oops.

…Let’s go deeper

 

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