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Today’s Logical Fallacy is… Appeal to Ancient Wisdom!
(Argument from Age, Wisdom of the Ancients, Appeal to Antiquity) This fallacy is the misconception that ancient practices or beliefs are superior to modern ones (related to appeal to authority and appeal to tradition). Those that use this fallacy argue that the length of time that something has been practiced is a sign of its…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is…Appeal to Closure!
This fallacy occurs when someone argues that a particular position must be accepted because those affected need “closure,” regardless of how morally or ethically questionable the position is. Sometimes the argument takes the form of, “Let’s just agree to disagree so we can move on,” even if one position is wrong. Not only will some…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is…Just in Case!
(worst case scenario fallacy) A type of appeal to emotion, this fallacy occurs when someone’s position is based on an unrealistic worst-case scenario rather than what would probable or realistic. Those who argue these points do so to convince you to make a decision out of fear rather than reason by inflating the perceived cost…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is…Moral Equivalency!
A fallacy common in politics, this occurs when two different and unrelated issues or positions are falsely said to carry the same moral weight. This is often used to sway the audience’s perception of the morality of a questionable position or action. It is used in three primary ways: 1) “Just as bad” – trying…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is…Correlation Equals Causation!
(False Cause, Post Hoc or Faulty Causality, or Correlation vs. Causation; post hoc ergo propter hoc) A very common fallacy both in everyday usage and in formal arguments, this fallacy occurs when someone confuses “correlation” (when things occur at the same time or immediately after one another) with “causation” (when one thing causes another). It…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is… Fallacy Fallacy!
(Argumentum ad Logicam, Fallacist’s Fallacy, Argument from Fallacy, disproof by fallacy, argument to logic, similar to the bad reasons fallacy, form of psychogenetic fallacy) This fallacy occurs when someone assumes that because an argument has been defended using a fallacy that the argument itself is wrong. Many correct ideas and positions are defended using faulty…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is… Gambler’s Fantasy!
(the Monte Carlo fallacy, the fallacy of the maturity of chances) This fallacy occurs when someone believes that the statistical likelihood of an independent event is directly related to what has happened in the past. For example, in flipping a coin, the odds of an individual flip coming up heads is 50/50, but when we…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is… Argument from Ignorance!
(Argumentum ex Silentio, Ad Ignoratiam, Appeal to Ignorance) This fallacy occurs when individuals take the lack of information about a certain subject as proof of either its existence or nonexistence. Essentially, it’s the belief that something is true because we don’t know it isn’t true, or, conversely, the disbelief in something because we don’t know…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is…Personal Incredulity!
(Argument from Incredulity) This fallacy occurs when someone dismisses something because they personally don’t understand it or can’t imagine how it would work. The basic level of understanding by any one person or even a majority does not dictate what is or is not false. Just because the concepts might be difficult to understand doesn’t…
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Today’s Logical Fallacy is… Bandwagon!
(argument from common sense, argumentum ad populum [“appeal to the people”], appeal to the crowd, appeal to the masses, appeal to belief, appeal to the majority, appeal to democracy, appeal to popularity, argument by consensus, consensus fallacy, authority of the many, and bandwagon fallacy, argumentum ad numerum [“appeal to the number”], consensus gentium [“agreement of…