The “Lesser of Two Evils” Fallacy | Psychology Today

Life is a mixed bag. We are all forced to take the fleas with the dog. Lots. Every day you choose the best you can find among imperfect ... Skiptomaincontent JeremyE.ShermanPh.D.,MPP Ambigamy The“LesserofTwoEvils”Fallacy It’sactuallythelesseroftwodisappointingchoices. PostedNovember1,2016 | ReviewedbyEkuaHagan Share Tweet Email Lifeisamixedbag.Weareallforcedtotakethefleaswiththedog.Lots.Everydayyouchoosethebestyoucanfindamongimperfectoptions—“thelesseroftwoevils”asthesayinggoes.Andyoudoitwithamatureacceptancethatthat’showlifeis.Wedon’tgeteverythingwewant. Somepeoplesaythatinthiselectionwe’reforcedtovoteforthelesseroftwoevils,whichmeanswe’restillchoosingevil.Theysay,therefore,thatwe’rebetteroffnotvotingatall,orvotingforsomeothercandidateclosertoyouridealeventhoughtheyhavenochanceofwinningandmaybringthe“greateroftwoevils”intopower. “Lesseroftwoevils”is,forthemostpart,amisnomer.Sure,therearetimeswhenwearereallychoosingbetweentwoevils.InSophie’sChoice,forexample,SophiewasforcedbyNazistoseeoneofhertwochildrenkilled. Butweshouldn'tovergeneralizetheconcept.Thelesseroftwoevilsshouldreallybecalledthelesseroftwodisappointingoptions.Youhopedforoptionsclosertoyouridealbutthat’snotwhatyou’vegot.Thatdoesn’tnecessarilymeanthatyouroptionsareallevil.Perhapsyouroptionsarejustdisappointing.Orperhapsoneisevilandtheotherisjustdisappointing. Thinkofwhatamessyou’dmakeofyourlifeifyoucalledallchoicesbetweendisappointingoptions“thelesserofevils”andthereforerefusedtosupportevilbypickingamongyouroptions. Yourjobisn’tperfect,right?Norarethealternativejobsthatyoucouldoptforinstead.Soyoumightcallyourchoicebetween“lesseramongstevils.”Ifyourefusedtosupport“evil”youcouldchoosetobeunemployedasamatterofperfectionistprinciple.Oryoucouldoptforsomedreamjobyoucan’tget. Isyourromanticpartnershiplessthanperfect?Doesthatmakeyourpartnerthelesserofthe“evil”optionsavailabletoyou?Ifso,bythelogicsomepeopleareapplyingtotheelection,youshouldleaveyourpartnerbecauseheorsheisstillevil.Youshouldgoafterapartneryoucan’tgetwhichwillleaveyoueitheraloneorwithagreaterdisappointment. Somepeopledoapplythe“lesseroftwoevils”logicintheireverydaylife.Theyboltuprightandsay“I’mnotgoingtotakethisanymore.Nocompromise!”Itrarelyturnsoutwellforthem. Sowhydoweapplythatlogictoanationaldemocraticelection?Toliveinademocracymeanscompromise.Whysuddenlytheproudswitchtoano-compromiserulewhenmostofusknowbetterthantoapplythatruleineverydaylife? TheanswerIhearmostfromfriendswhoinsistthatvotingforeitherofthetwopossiblecandidatesisevilisbecausethesituationisdire.They’vetakenalltheycanandtotakemorewouldbetoomuchofacompromise.It’sacompromisetosupportevil.Myguessisthatthat’snotitandevenifitwereit,it’snotdemocracy.Democracyiscompromise. I’mguessingthat’sit’sactuallythatpoliticsisabstractconsumerism.It’snotpracticalconsumerismlikebuyingacarwhereyouknowyou’llbestuckwiththechoice.It’smakinganabstractchoicewheretheconsequenceswillplayoutambiguously.Politicsisoverwhelminglyvague.Wepickcandidatesbasedontheircharacterbecausenoneofushavetimeforadetailedanalysisoftheirissuesandpolicies.Soit’sabstractchoosing.It’seasytobeaperfectionistintheabstract. Andit’sconsumerism.Wehavebecomeanationofproud,happyshoppersaccustomedtobeingtoldthatwecannowexpectmoreandpayless. Weoftencan,butwithconsumergoods,notwithpeople.Ifyou’veeverbeenfrustratedwithapersonfornotbeingmorereliableandcustomizabletoyourpreferences,youmaybemistakingthemforaconsumerproduct.Consumerproductsareeasytotailortoreliablyfityourneeds. Butpeoplearestillpeople.We’reforcedtoputupwithstufffrompeoplethatwewouldnevertolerateinaconsumergood.We’ddemandanupgrade. Abstractconsumerisminpresidentialelectionsis,fromwhatIcantell,abigpartofthereasonsomepeoplecalltheelectionnextweekachoicebetweenthelesseroftwoevils,notnoticingthatwhattheyreallymeanisthelesseroftwodisappointingoptions. Andgrowingdisappointmentisabigpartofittoo.It’snoteasylettinggoofhighexpectations.Theworldhasbecomedisappointinglycomplicatedveryquickly.It’slikelythatinourlifetimes,we’llneverseethesimplerhappieroptionsofouryouthagain.Thinkofthequantityanddiversityofdisappointingchoicesournationhasfacedjustinthelasteightyears.We’renotusedtothat. Apresidentisaleaderbutalsoalightningrod.Weblameeverythingonthem,includinglotsofthingsoverwhichtheyhavelittleornoinfluence.Apresidentisascapegoatinchief. Manyofusaredisappointedintheamountofpanderingpoliticiansdo.Butthatpanderingismoreasymptomofourhighunadjustedexpectationsandabstractconsumerismthanitisofflawsofpoliticalcharacters.Youcan’tcompeteforthepresidencythesedayswithoutpandering,includingmeta-pandering—panderingaboutpandering,saying“You’regoodhonestfolk.Youdon’twantpandering.Youonlywantstraighttalkandthat’sallyou’llevergetfromme.” That’sdisappointingtoo,butnotevil.Justsomeofthefleaswehavetotakewiththedogofdemocracy.Disappointedornot,getoutandvote—fortheleastdisappointingamongtheavailableoptions. Share Tweet Email advertisement AbouttheAuthor JeremySherman,Ph.D., MPP,hasawideresearchagenda— psychologyfromcradletograve,life’soriginstoourgravesituation,groundedina25-yearclosecollaborationwithBerkeleyneuroscientist,biologicalanthropologistTerrenceDeacon. 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