I don't give much of a hoot for this Sophomoric stuff anymore, but I thought some of you might enjoy this since, if you've been here long, you have probably been accused of doing at least one of these. I started with a favorite of many people here.
Strawman
Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.
By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someone's
argument, it's much easier to present your own position as being reasonable or
valid, but this kind of dishonesty serves to undermine rational debate.
After Willie said that we should put more money into health and education,
_______________ (fill in the name of the person of your choice.) responded
by saying that he was surprised that Willie hates our country
so much that he wants to leave it defenseless by cutting military spending.
The Texas Sharpshooter
Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or
finding a pattern to fit a presumption.
This ‘false cause’ fallacy is coined after a marksman shooting at barns and then
painting bullseye targets around the spot where the most bullet holes appear.
Clusters naturally appear by chance, and don’t necessarily indicate causation.
The makers of Sugarette Candy Drinks point to research showing that of the
five countries where Sugarette drinks sell the most units, three of them are in
the top ten healthiest countries on Earth, therefore Sugarette drinks are healthy.
Ad Hominem
Attacking your opponent’s character or personal traits
instead of engaging with their argument.
Ad hominem attacks can take the form of overtly attacking somebody, or more
subtly casting doubt on their character. The result of an ad hominem attack can be
to undermine someone without actually having to engage with their argument.
After Sally presents an eloquent and compelling case for a more equitable
taxation system, Sam asks the audience whether we should believe anything
from a woman who isn’t married, was once arrested, and smells a bit weird.
Loaded Question
Asking a question that has an assumption built into it so
that it can’t be answered without appearing guilty.
Loaded question fallacies are particularly effective at derailing rational debates
because of their inflammatory nature - the recipient of the loaded question is
compelled to defend themselves and may appear flustered or on the back foot.
Grace and Helen were both romantically interested in Brad. One day, with Brad
sitting within earshot, Grace asked in an inquisitive tone whether Helen was
having any problems with a drug habit.
The Gambler’s Fallacy
Believing that ‘runs’ occur to statistically independent
phenomena such as roulette wheel spins.
This commonly believed fallacy can be fairly said to have created an entire city in
the desert of Nevada USA. Though the overall odds of a ‘big run’ happening may
be low, each spin of the wheel is itself entirely independent from the last.
Red had come up six times in a row on the roulette wheel, so Greg knew that it
was close to certain that black would be next up. Suffering an economic form
of natural selection with this thinking, he soon lost all of his savings.
Bandwagon
Appealing to popularity, or the fact that many people do
something, as an attempted form of validation.
The flaw in this argument is that the popularity of an idea has absolutely no
bearing on its validity. If it did, then the Earth would have made itself flat for
most of history to accommodate people’s popular belief.
Shamus pointed a drunken finger at Sean and asked him to explain how so
many people could believe in leprechauns if they’re only a silly old superstition.
Sean, however, had had a few too many Guinness himself and fell o_ his chair.
Black or White
Where two alternative states are presented as the only
possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.
Also known as the false dilemma, this insidious tactic has the appearance of
forming a logical argument, but under closer scrutiny it becomes evident that
there are more possibilities than the either/or choice that is presented.
Whilst rallying support for his plan to fundamentally undermine citizens’ rights,
the Supreme Leader told the people they were either on his side, or on the side
of the enemy.
Begging the Question
A circular argument in which the conclusion is included
in the premise.
This logically incoherent argument often arises in situations where people have
an assumption that is very ingrained, and therefore taken in their minds as a
given. Circular reasoning is bad mostly because it’s not very good.
The word of Zorbo the Great is flawless and perfect. We know this because it
says so in The Great and Infallible Book of Zorbo’s Best and Most Truest Things
that are Definitely True and Should Not Ever Be Questioned.
Appeal to Authority
Using the opinion or position of an authority figure, or
institution of authority, in place of an actual argument.
Much of the time experts have better information and understanding than
others, but holding a position of authority doesn't necessarily mean that
someone is right. After all, the highest medical authorities used to think that
bleeding people was a good general cure for sickness.
Not able to defend his position that evolution ‘isn’t true’ Bob says that he knows
a scientist who also questions evolution (and presumably isn’t a primate).
Appeal to Nature
Making the argument that because something is ‘natural’
it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, or ideal.
Just because something is natural doesn‘t mean it’s good. For instance murder
is natural, but most of us agree that we don't think it's a very good thing to be
doing, nor does its 'naturalness' constitute any kind of justification for it.
The medicine man rolled into town on his bandwagon offering various natural
remedies, such as very special plain water. He said that it was only natural that
people should be wary of ‘artificial’ medicines such as antibiotics.
Composition/Division
Assuming that what’s true about one part of something
has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.
Often when something is true for the part it does also apply to the whole, but
because this isn’t always the case it can’t be presumed to be true. We must
show evidence for why a consistency will exist.
Daniel was a precocious child and had a liking for logic. He reasoned that
atoms are invisible, and that he was made of atoms and therefore invisible too.
Unfortunately, despite his thinking skills, he lost the game of hide and go seek.
Anecdotal
Using personal experience or an isolated example instead
of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.
It’s often much easier for people to believe someone’s testimony as opposed to
understanding variation across a continuum. Quantitative scientific measures
are almost always more accurate than individual perceptions and experiences.
Jason said that that was all cool and everything, but his grandfather smoked,
like, 30 cigarettes a day and lived until 97 - so don’t believe everything you read
about meta analyses of sound studies showing proven causal relationships.
No True Scotsman
Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way
to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.
In this form of faulty reasoning one’s belief is rendered unfalsifiable because no
matter how compelling the evidence is, one simply shifts the goalposts so that
it wouldn’t apply to a supposedly ‘true’ example.
Angus declares that Scotsmen do not put sugar on their porridge, to which
Lachlan points out that he is a Scotsman and puts sugar on his porridge.
Furious, like a true Scot, Angus yells that no true Scotsman sugars his porridge.
Middle Ground
Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two
extremes is the truth.
Much of the time the truth does indeed lie between two extreme points, but this
can bias our thinking: sometimes a thing is simply untrue and a compromise of
it is also untrue. Half way between truth and a lie, is still a lie.
Holly said that vaccinations caused autism in children, but her scientifically
well-read friend Caleb said that this claim had been debunked and proven false.
Their friend Alice o_ered a compromise that vaccinations cause some autism.
Genetic
Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it
comes from, or from whom it comes.
To appeal to prejudices surrounding something’s origin is another red herring
fallacy. This fallacy has the same function as an ad hominem, but applies
instead to perceptions surrounding something’s source or context.
Accused on the 6 o’clock news of corruption and taking bribes, the senator said
that we should all be very wary of the things we hear in the media, because we
all know how very unreliable the media can be.
Ambiguity
Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to
mislead or misrepresent the truth.
Politicians are often guilty of using ambiguity to mislead and will later point to
how they were technically not outright lying if they come under scrutiny. It’s a
particularly tricky and premeditated fallacy to commit.
When the judge asked the defendant why he hadn't paid his parking fines, he
said that he shouldn't have to pay them because the sign said 'Fine for parking
here' and so he naturally presumed that it would be fine to park there.
False Cause
Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between
things means that one is the cause of the other.
Many people confuse correlation (things happening together or in sequence)
for causation (that one thing actually causes the other to happen). Sometimes
correlation is coincidental, or it may be attributable to a common cause.
Pointing to a fancy chart, Roger shows how temperatures have been rising over
the past few centuries, whilst at the same time the numbers of pirates have
been decreasing; thus pirates cool the world and global warming is a hoax.
The Fallacy Fallacy
Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued,
or a fallacy has been made, that it is necessarily wrong.
There are few things more frustrating than watching someone poorly argue a
position one holds. Much of the time a debate is won not because the victor is
right, but because s/he is better at debating than their opponent.
Recognizing that Amanda had committed a fallacy in arguing that we should
eat healthy food because it was popular, Alyse resolved to eat bacon double
cheeseburgers every day.
Appeal to Emotion
Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or
compelling argument.
Appeals to emotion include appeals to fear, envy, hatred, pity, pride, and more.
Though a valid argument may sometimes have an emotional aspect, one must
be careful that emotion doesn’t replace sensible logic.
Luke didn’t want to eat his sheep’s brains with chopped liver and brussels
sprouts, but his father told him to think about the poor, starving children in a
third world country who weren’t fortunate enough to have any food at all.
Tu Quoque
Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it
back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.
Literally translating as ‘you too’ this fallacy is commonly employed as an
effective red herring because it takes the heat o_ the accused having to defend
themselves and shifts the focus back onto the accuser themselves.
The blue candidate accused the red candidate of committing the tu quoque
fallacy. The red candidate responded by accusing the blue candidate of the same,
after which ensued an hour of back and forth criticism with not much progress.
Burden of Proof
Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person
making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.
The burden of proof lies with someone who is making a claim, and is not upon
anyone else to disprove. The inability, or disinclination, to disprove a claim does
not make it valid (however we must always go by the best available evidence).
Bertrand declares that a teapot is, at this very moment, in orbit around the Sun
between the Earth and Mars, and that because no one can prove him wrong
his claim is therefore a valid one.
Personal Incredulity
Saying that because one finds something difficult to
understand that it’s therefore not true.
Complex subjects like biological evolution through natural selection require
some amount of understanding of how they work before one is able to
properly grasp them; this fallacy is usually used in place of that understanding.
Kirk drew a picture of a fish and a human and with elusive disdain asked Richard
if he really thought we were stupid enough to believe that a fish somehow
turned into a human through just, like, random things happening over time.
Special Pleading
Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a
claim is shown to be false.
Humans are funny creatures and have a foolish aversion to being wrong.
Rather than appreciate the benefits of being able to change one’s mind through
better understanding, many will invent ways to cling to old beliefs.
Edward Johns claimed to be psychic, but when his ‘abilities’ were tested under
proper scientific conditions, they magically disappeared. Edward explained this
saying that one had to have faith in his abilities for them to work.
Slippery Slope
Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will
consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.
The problem with this reasoning is that it avoids engaging with the issue at
hand, and instead shifts attention to baseless extreme hypotheticals. The merits
of the original argument are then tainted by unsubstantiated conjecture.
Colin Closet asserts that if we allow same-sex couples to marry, then the next
thing we know we’ll be allowing people to marry their parents, their cars and
even monkeys.
Strawman
Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.
By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someone's
argument, it's much easier to present your own position as being reasonable or
valid, but this kind of dishonesty serves to undermine rational debate.
After Willie said that we should put more money into health and education,
_______________ (fill in the name of the person of your choice.) responded
by saying that he was surprised that Willie hates our country
so much that he wants to leave it defenseless by cutting military spending.
The Texas Sharpshooter
Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or
finding a pattern to fit a presumption.
This ‘false cause’ fallacy is coined after a marksman shooting at barns and then
painting bullseye targets around the spot where the most bullet holes appear.
Clusters naturally appear by chance, and don’t necessarily indicate causation.
The makers of Sugarette Candy Drinks point to research showing that of the
five countries where Sugarette drinks sell the most units, three of them are in
the top ten healthiest countries on Earth, therefore Sugarette drinks are healthy.
Ad Hominem
Attacking your opponent’s character or personal traits
instead of engaging with their argument.
Ad hominem attacks can take the form of overtly attacking somebody, or more
subtly casting doubt on their character. The result of an ad hominem attack can be
to undermine someone without actually having to engage with their argument.
After Sally presents an eloquent and compelling case for a more equitable
taxation system, Sam asks the audience whether we should believe anything
from a woman who isn’t married, was once arrested, and smells a bit weird.
Loaded Question
Asking a question that has an assumption built into it so
that it can’t be answered without appearing guilty.
Loaded question fallacies are particularly effective at derailing rational debates
because of their inflammatory nature - the recipient of the loaded question is
compelled to defend themselves and may appear flustered or on the back foot.
Grace and Helen were both romantically interested in Brad. One day, with Brad
sitting within earshot, Grace asked in an inquisitive tone whether Helen was
having any problems with a drug habit.
The Gambler’s Fallacy
Believing that ‘runs’ occur to statistically independent
phenomena such as roulette wheel spins.
This commonly believed fallacy can be fairly said to have created an entire city in
the desert of Nevada USA. Though the overall odds of a ‘big run’ happening may
be low, each spin of the wheel is itself entirely independent from the last.
Red had come up six times in a row on the roulette wheel, so Greg knew that it
was close to certain that black would be next up. Suffering an economic form
of natural selection with this thinking, he soon lost all of his savings.
Bandwagon
Appealing to popularity, or the fact that many people do
something, as an attempted form of validation.
The flaw in this argument is that the popularity of an idea has absolutely no
bearing on its validity. If it did, then the Earth would have made itself flat for
most of history to accommodate people’s popular belief.
Shamus pointed a drunken finger at Sean and asked him to explain how so
many people could believe in leprechauns if they’re only a silly old superstition.
Sean, however, had had a few too many Guinness himself and fell o_ his chair.
Black or White
Where two alternative states are presented as the only
possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.
Also known as the false dilemma, this insidious tactic has the appearance of
forming a logical argument, but under closer scrutiny it becomes evident that
there are more possibilities than the either/or choice that is presented.
Whilst rallying support for his plan to fundamentally undermine citizens’ rights,
the Supreme Leader told the people they were either on his side, or on the side
of the enemy.
Begging the Question
A circular argument in which the conclusion is included
in the premise.
This logically incoherent argument often arises in situations where people have
an assumption that is very ingrained, and therefore taken in their minds as a
given. Circular reasoning is bad mostly because it’s not very good.
The word of Zorbo the Great is flawless and perfect. We know this because it
says so in The Great and Infallible Book of Zorbo’s Best and Most Truest Things
that are Definitely True and Should Not Ever Be Questioned.
Appeal to Authority
Using the opinion or position of an authority figure, or
institution of authority, in place of an actual argument.
Much of the time experts have better information and understanding than
others, but holding a position of authority doesn't necessarily mean that
someone is right. After all, the highest medical authorities used to think that
bleeding people was a good general cure for sickness.
Not able to defend his position that evolution ‘isn’t true’ Bob says that he knows
a scientist who also questions evolution (and presumably isn’t a primate).
Appeal to Nature
Making the argument that because something is ‘natural’
it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, or ideal.
Just because something is natural doesn‘t mean it’s good. For instance murder
is natural, but most of us agree that we don't think it's a very good thing to be
doing, nor does its 'naturalness' constitute any kind of justification for it.
The medicine man rolled into town on his bandwagon offering various natural
remedies, such as very special plain water. He said that it was only natural that
people should be wary of ‘artificial’ medicines such as antibiotics.
Composition/Division
Assuming that what’s true about one part of something
has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.
Often when something is true for the part it does also apply to the whole, but
because this isn’t always the case it can’t be presumed to be true. We must
show evidence for why a consistency will exist.
Daniel was a precocious child and had a liking for logic. He reasoned that
atoms are invisible, and that he was made of atoms and therefore invisible too.
Unfortunately, despite his thinking skills, he lost the game of hide and go seek.
Anecdotal
Using personal experience or an isolated example instead
of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.
It’s often much easier for people to believe someone’s testimony as opposed to
understanding variation across a continuum. Quantitative scientific measures
are almost always more accurate than individual perceptions and experiences.
Jason said that that was all cool and everything, but his grandfather smoked,
like, 30 cigarettes a day and lived until 97 - so don’t believe everything you read
about meta analyses of sound studies showing proven causal relationships.
No True Scotsman
Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way
to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.
In this form of faulty reasoning one’s belief is rendered unfalsifiable because no
matter how compelling the evidence is, one simply shifts the goalposts so that
it wouldn’t apply to a supposedly ‘true’ example.
Angus declares that Scotsmen do not put sugar on their porridge, to which
Lachlan points out that he is a Scotsman and puts sugar on his porridge.
Furious, like a true Scot, Angus yells that no true Scotsman sugars his porridge.
Middle Ground
Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two
extremes is the truth.
Much of the time the truth does indeed lie between two extreme points, but this
can bias our thinking: sometimes a thing is simply untrue and a compromise of
it is also untrue. Half way between truth and a lie, is still a lie.
Holly said that vaccinations caused autism in children, but her scientifically
well-read friend Caleb said that this claim had been debunked and proven false.
Their friend Alice o_ered a compromise that vaccinations cause some autism.
Genetic
Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it
comes from, or from whom it comes.
To appeal to prejudices surrounding something’s origin is another red herring
fallacy. This fallacy has the same function as an ad hominem, but applies
instead to perceptions surrounding something’s source or context.
Accused on the 6 o’clock news of corruption and taking bribes, the senator said
that we should all be very wary of the things we hear in the media, because we
all know how very unreliable the media can be.
Ambiguity
Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to
mislead or misrepresent the truth.
Politicians are often guilty of using ambiguity to mislead and will later point to
how they were technically not outright lying if they come under scrutiny. It’s a
particularly tricky and premeditated fallacy to commit.
When the judge asked the defendant why he hadn't paid his parking fines, he
said that he shouldn't have to pay them because the sign said 'Fine for parking
here' and so he naturally presumed that it would be fine to park there.
False Cause
Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between
things means that one is the cause of the other.
Many people confuse correlation (things happening together or in sequence)
for causation (that one thing actually causes the other to happen). Sometimes
correlation is coincidental, or it may be attributable to a common cause.
Pointing to a fancy chart, Roger shows how temperatures have been rising over
the past few centuries, whilst at the same time the numbers of pirates have
been decreasing; thus pirates cool the world and global warming is a hoax.
The Fallacy Fallacy
Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued,
or a fallacy has been made, that it is necessarily wrong.
There are few things more frustrating than watching someone poorly argue a
position one holds. Much of the time a debate is won not because the victor is
right, but because s/he is better at debating than their opponent.
Recognizing that Amanda had committed a fallacy in arguing that we should
eat healthy food because it was popular, Alyse resolved to eat bacon double
cheeseburgers every day.
Appeal to Emotion
Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or
compelling argument.
Appeals to emotion include appeals to fear, envy, hatred, pity, pride, and more.
Though a valid argument may sometimes have an emotional aspect, one must
be careful that emotion doesn’t replace sensible logic.
Luke didn’t want to eat his sheep’s brains with chopped liver and brussels
sprouts, but his father told him to think about the poor, starving children in a
third world country who weren’t fortunate enough to have any food at all.
Tu Quoque
Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it
back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.
Literally translating as ‘you too’ this fallacy is commonly employed as an
effective red herring because it takes the heat o_ the accused having to defend
themselves and shifts the focus back onto the accuser themselves.
The blue candidate accused the red candidate of committing the tu quoque
fallacy. The red candidate responded by accusing the blue candidate of the same,
after which ensued an hour of back and forth criticism with not much progress.
Burden of Proof
Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person
making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.
The burden of proof lies with someone who is making a claim, and is not upon
anyone else to disprove. The inability, or disinclination, to disprove a claim does
not make it valid (however we must always go by the best available evidence).
Bertrand declares that a teapot is, at this very moment, in orbit around the Sun
between the Earth and Mars, and that because no one can prove him wrong
his claim is therefore a valid one.
Personal Incredulity
Saying that because one finds something difficult to
understand that it’s therefore not true.
Complex subjects like biological evolution through natural selection require
some amount of understanding of how they work before one is able to
properly grasp them; this fallacy is usually used in place of that understanding.
Kirk drew a picture of a fish and a human and with elusive disdain asked Richard
if he really thought we were stupid enough to believe that a fish somehow
turned into a human through just, like, random things happening over time.
Special Pleading
Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a
claim is shown to be false.
Humans are funny creatures and have a foolish aversion to being wrong.
Rather than appreciate the benefits of being able to change one’s mind through
better understanding, many will invent ways to cling to old beliefs.
Edward Johns claimed to be psychic, but when his ‘abilities’ were tested under
proper scientific conditions, they magically disappeared. Edward explained this
saying that one had to have faith in his abilities for them to work.
Slippery Slope
Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will
consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.
The problem with this reasoning is that it avoids engaging with the issue at
hand, and instead shifts attention to baseless extreme hypotheticals. The merits
of the original argument are then tainted by unsubstantiated conjecture.
Colin Closet asserts that if we allow same-sex couples to marry, then the next
thing we know we’ll be allowing people to marry their parents, their cars and
even monkeys.
