Logical Fallacies

Jan 4 / 23

The world is full of questionable truths, disguised as evidence.


Straw Man Fallacy

Providing a different, more ridiculous, argument in lieu of the original– a decoy– to strengthen their position. Red Herring is diversion from the actual statement, to one that is easier to defend against. “Drugs is bad… But who decides what is bad?”


Cherry Picking

is only acknowledging the points that are favorable to one side. Nitpicking is when one chooses the weakest representative of a group. Picking the most unpopular one to take the blame is scapegoating.


Texas Sharpshooter

is only paying attention to similarities and ignoring differences— like painting targets around bullet holes to appear as a sharpshooter . Shoehorning is forcing current events to positively benefit or justify a beliefs (religious, spiritual, horoscope).


Spin Doctoring

is presenting facts in a deceptive way to benefit the presenter. Equivocation is being ambiguous enough to be misinterpreted— play on words.


Slippery Slope

is implying that an event will directly lead to another undesirable event. “First we let the baby sleep in our bed… next he’ll be upkicking our noses.” Jumping to Conclusions is insisting an event is a result of another, based on unrelated facts.


Moving the Goalpost

is changing the original intent after the challenge has been made. “What have you done for me lately?” Having your cake is when one is trying to argue for both sides, even if not initially, to avoid being wrong.


Stereotyping

Overgeneralizing a group to make a point about one. Biased Sampling is selecting a specific group to depict of a whole. Hasty Generalization is picking a sample size simply too small to get a general depiction, even one. “I can do it, so can you!”


Confirmation Bias

is when we only see what we understand or want to see. Survivorship Bias is when ‘dead men don’t tell tales’, and we only hear the stories of winners.


Weak Analogy

is when an analogy too dissimilar is used to prove (or disprove) a point for another.
False equivalence is using an unrelated matter to prove another.


Nirvana Fallacy

is creating a perfect idealized scenario or an impossible standard, to dismiss realistic solutions, as if improvements are not good enough. Logic Chopping (sometimes nitpicking) is using unnecessary excessive logic to get away from the main point or request.


Ad Hominem

is talking shit about the claimant rather than address their claims.
Poisoning the Well is talking shit about the other party before they even have a chance to speak.
Tu quoque is pointing out hypocrisies ( inconsistencies ) rather than defending the point.


Loaded Question

is a question where it’s impossible for the defendant to not sound wrong or guilty, in one way or another. “You’re either ate the last piece, or you’re a liar!”


Begging the Question

is circular reasoning, where the conclusion is the same as the argument. “I’m right, because I’m always right.” Limited Scope Fallacy is just another definition instead of an explanation.


Bandwagon

assumes something is true because others do. Appeal to Authority is when facts favor the popular or the recognized.  If the king does it, it must be correct.


Burden of Proof

When an argument requires irrefutable proof, not even a fraction. Appeal to Ignorance is when an argument have not been proven false.


Gambler’s Fallacy

is inserting meaning into randomness, such as odds and statistics. Meanwhile Sunk-Cost Fallacy is refusing to ceede, because what has already been ‘sunk’ in.


False Dilemma

When two options are presented as the only options. Black and White, is only having two opposite views, ignoring any gray areas. “All people who steal are bad.” Win-Win Fallacy is if anywhere in the middle of two positions, is a win for both.


Self Righteousness Fallacy

When one can’t be fallible because intentions are good.  Self-Righteousness is insisting moral superiority over someone with different circumstances.


Nothing is better than cold beer.  Yet warm beer is better than nothing.  So warm beer must be better than cold beer.