Its important to understand that basing your argument on a fallacy does NOT necessarily mean you are wrong. It just means you have used poor logic and have not proven your argument successfully.
A fallacy is an error in your thought process, a mistake that may lead to a false conclusion. Most people use fallacious reasoning because the fallacy they use seems to support their preconceived ideas – look in the fields of politics and religion for more examples than you can shake a stick at.
Annoyingly, it is still possible for your conclusion to be factually correct despite your dependence on the fallacy. This is possible simply because your fallacy may have no connection with the validity of the point you are trying to make.
Usually, you are wrong though.. and even when you are right, you were right ‘by accident’ and most people party to your ‘triumph’ will secretly be hating you. In fact, some might not even try to keep their hatred secret. Nobody likes being beaten in an argument by a lucky ignoramus, and unless your argument had an element of “argumentum ad baculum”, you may want to keep your head down for a while.
