Labyrinth of the Spirit: Fallacious behavior.

The Fallacy	The fallacy is this: A natural instinct to do right is replaced by a feeling or attitude of being right, thereby denying awareness.
Right & Wrong	From a narrow point of view, being right may feel correct. From a broad point of view, when attitude is based on some type of exclusion, decisions are probably based on error, and likely invalid. If not invalid, at least questionable when considered in terms of "the highest and best good." From the determination to be right, beliefs can be supported by fallacious proofs; fallacious proofs breed false principles; false principles create convenient truths; convenient truths can deny reality, requiring prejudicial attitudes to support weak arguments. Ironically, weak arguments depend on the same logic that supports the mechanics of reason! Fallacies are supported by logic. The instinct to do right uses the same process. An attempt to do right opens the mind to honest proof; honest proof breeds solid principles; solid principles promote truth—and the perception of a truth is a revelation. Revelation makes invalid arguments unnecessary.
Choice	Choice is always available, but the Process reveals that a perception of truth may support fallacious thinking. Therefore, choosing between foolish or wise, delusion or perception, false or true, determines the effect. When behavior is blindly consistent, certain stimuli produce the same effect if the same choice is made each time. From such blind behavior springs this chancy advice: Choose the same, but hope that things will turn out differently this time. The Labyrinth of the Spirit promotes the idea that behaviors based on falsity may have an immediate effect, but their effects ultimately prove meaningless. For example, faith in a belief or idea has powerful immediate effects, because behavior is based on belief. But, if that faith is proved to be in error, what do its effects really mean? Having a faith is itself a behavior based on a desire for meaning, which, using logic, defines meaning according to that faith. Then the urge to be right looks like the instinct to do right. By pretending to be what it is not, the urge vanquishes reality. The research of Viktor E. Frankl, the European psychiatrist who survived the WWII concentration camps, disclosed that "the will to meaning in most people is fact, not faith." Fact matters, but it is based on perception, and perception is based on belief. Belief, in turn, determines faith. Faith is admirable, but false faith is misplaced. Faith in reality is preferable to false wishful (wistful?) faith. Meaning depends on reality, not fancy, but leans on faith, and that is a fact. From his experience and observations, Frankl wrote: It is not what happens, it is the attitude adopted toward what happens. He experienced powerful negative stimuli, yet maintained a positive attitude, demonstrating that true choice (see definitions) exists, is meaningful, and warrants faith. Gruesome facts, false facts, mistaken perceptions, fallacious choices, do not warrant faith. Behavior depends on choices. Some choices warrant faith.
Error	Despite good intentions, choices based on fallacy invite error. In the Process (See link below), choices offer the potential for an error characteristic to the choice. Besides, the choice is not always clear. It is advantageous to be aware of the potential for error, because knowing this potential provides the opportunity to correct error and decide beneficially. The Process suggests that an open mind finds reality. When the mind is deluded or misled, one error builds upon another, and reality is hard to discern. Then, the Process is not productive, but destructive. It depends on choice. Poor choice makes the Process fallacious. Good choice makes the Process valuable. Errors may be simple, but when combined, create compound errors. Click the following to see Willful Error Behavior or Mindful Error Behavior
	For structure, link to The Process