Diversity Day and Logical Fallacies

The Office is one of my favorite shows. It provides comic relief in many situations. Much of the comedy in the show comes from logical fallacies, which are arguments that has incorrect reasoning. Some (of the many) fallacies featured in The Office include false authority, circular reasoning, and sweeping generalizations.

One can see examples of sweeping generalizations in season one episode two of The Office. In this episode titled “Diversity Day,” Michael Scott (the boss) is supposed to give a diversity presentation. However, he completely alters what corporate intended for the presentation. Michael gives each employee an index card with a race or ethnicity, and they have to put their card on their forehead. The employees are supposed to act how they would normally act toward a person with that race or ethnicity. The cards read things such as “black,” “Jamaican,” and “Italian.”

This episode contains numerous sweeping generalizations, which are also known stereotypes when applied to a group of people. Particularly, I noticed an interaction between Pam and Dwight that highlights some common stereotypes. Pam sees that Dwight’s card says “Asian.” Noting this is a stereotype she doesn’t agree with, Pam says that Dwight would be a bad driver. Dwight replies “Oh, man, am I a woman?”

This encounter shows stereotypes of two groups: women and Asians. These stereotypes assume that all women and Asians are bad drivers. Obviously, this is not true, but this has become a sweeping generalization in society. This is illogical because it is taking a specific idea about a person and generalizing that idea to every person in a group. Another stereotype in this episode is that all Indian people own convenience stores. This is a sweeping generalization about a group of people. Every single person in a group cannot be the same.

Clearly, the producers of the show are not approving of these stereotypes. They are poking fun at how ridiculous stereotypes are. Also, I think the producers used this episode to show that stereotypes are ingrained in our society. Sometimes, we may not consciously know we are stereotyping. This episode sheds light on the issue and raises awareness of the ridiculousness of stereotypes.