Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

T

he

post hoc ergo propter hoc

(

after

this, therefore

because

of this) fallacy is based upon the notion that simply because “B” happens after “A,” “A”

caused

“B.”

If I kill a goat, and then it starts to rain, it is completely irrational to say that the death of the goat

caused

the rain.

If I get angry when my wife says something, I cannot immediately prove that I got angry

because

my wife said something – all that I know for sure is that I felt anger

after

she spoke.

However, we are endlessly drawn to the fallacy of blaming others

for our own feelings, because it is far easier than actually discussing our feelings in an open and vulnerable way.

Forever and a day, if you take the

“blame” approach, you will be mired in dysfunctional, frustrating, empty, wasteful, negative “relationships.”

How many times do we feel that we are silently and invisibly

“fencing” with someone else, where we are trying to pin the blame for our emotions on him, while he is struggling to evade our blame, and trying to turn it around and blame us?

We are priests arguing about dead gods.

We are wasting our lives fencing with ourselves.

And we deserve so much better.

But first we have to

earn

it.