Fallacies (24/24)

1. Composition/Division – Assuming that what’s true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.
   • “Because atoms are invisible and I am made from atoms. Therefore, I am invisible too.”
2. Anecdotal – Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.
   • “My grandfather smoked 30 cigarettes a day and he lived until 97. Therefore, there are no proven causal relationships among smoking and longevity. “
3. Appeal to emotion – Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.
   • “You should eat the brains of a sheep with chopped liver and brussels sprouts. No everyone in the world is fortune like you. You need to think of the third world countries where kids do not have enough food to eat.”
4. Tu quoque – Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser – answering criticism with criticism.
   • “Who are you to tell me not to smoke when you smoked back when you were little?”
5. Burden of proof – Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.
   • “At this exact moment, the teapot I am holding is in an orbit around the Sun between the Earth and Mars. I am right because no one can prove me wrong.”
6. No true Scotsman – Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.
   • A, “No Scotsmen put sugar on their porridge.” B, “My father is a Scotsman and he puts sugar on his porridge.” A, “No TRUE Scotsmen put sugar on their porridge.”
7. The Texas sharpshooter – Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption.
   • “Look at the top five countries that sell the most Sugarette Candy Drinks. Three of them are among the top 10 healthiest countries on Earth, therefore Sugareete Candy Drinks are healthy.
8. The fallacy fallacy – Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that it is necessarily wrong.
   • A, “My pet Bacon is an animal. Cats are animals. Therefore, Bacon is a cat.” B, “Your argument has a fallacy. Therefore, Bacon is not a cat.”
9. Personal incredulity – Saying that because one finds something difficult to understand that it’s therefore not true.
   • “Look at this fish. Now, look at me. How is it possible that we humans evolved from fish?”
10. Ambiguity – Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.
    • “I wasn’t violating the law here because the sign says ‘Fine For Parking Here’ so it is fine to park here”
11. Genetic – Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes.
    • “We should be very wary of the things we hear in the media because we all know how unreliable the media can be.”
12. Middle Ground – Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.
    • “Some people argue that vaccinations caused autism in children, even though this was debunked and proven false by many scientists. However, I think there should be a comprise where vaccination causes some autism.”