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7/31/2019 LogicalFallaciesInfographic_A1
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/logicalfallaciesinfographica1 1/1
A logical fallacy is often what has happened when someone is wrong about something. It's a flaw in reasoning. Strong arguments are void of logical fallacies, whilst arguments that are weak tend to use logical fallacies to appear stronger than they are. They're like tricks or illusions of thought, and they're often
very sneakily used by politicians, the media, and others to fool people. Don’t be fooled! This poster has been designed to help you identify and call out dodgy logic wherever it may raise its ugly, incoherent head. If you see someone committing a logical fallacy online, link them
to the relevant fallacy to school them in thinky awesomeness and win the intellectual aections of those who happen across your comment by appearing clever and interesting e.g. yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
This poster is published under a Creative Commons No Derivative Works license 2012 by Jesse Richardson. You are free to print, copy, and redistribute this artwork, including printing and selling for profit, with the binding proviso that you reproduce it in full so that others may share alike. This poster can be downloaded as a high resolution pdf from the website for printing at various sizes.
Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier
to attack.
Byexaggerating,misrepresenting,orjust completelyfabricatingsomeone's
argument,it'smuch easierto presentyour ownposition asbeing reasonableor
valid,butthis kindof dishonestyservesto underminerationaldebate.
AfterWillsaidthatweshouldputmoremoneyintohealthandeducation,Warrenrespondedby sayingthathe wassurprisedthat Willhatesour country
somuchthathewantstoleaveit defencelessbycuttingmilitaryspending.
Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or
finding a pattern to fit a presumption.
This‘falsecause’ fallacyiscoined aftera marksmanshootingatbarns andthen
paintingbullseyetargetsaround thespot wherethe mostbullet holesappear.
Clustersnaturallyappearby chance,anddon’t necessarilyindicatecausation.
Themakersof SugaretteCandyDrinkspointtoresearchshowingthatof the
fivecountrieswhereSugarettedrinkssellthemostunits,threeofthemarein
thetop tenhealthiestcountries onEarth, thereforeSugarettedrinksare healthy.
Attacking your opponent’s character or personal traits
instead of engaging with their argument.
Adhominemattacks cantake theform ofovertly attackingsomebody,ormore
subtlycastingdoubtontheircharacter.Theresultofanad homattackcanbe
toundermine someonewithoutactually havingtoengage withtheir argument.
AfterSallypresents aneloquent andcompellingcase fora moreequitabletaxationsystem,Samasks theaudience whetherwe shouldbelieveanything
fromawomanwhoisn’tmarried,wasoncearrested,andsmellsa bitweird.
Asking a question that has an assumption built into it so
that it can’t be answered without appearing guilty.
Loadedquestionfallaciesare particularlyeectiveatderailingrational debates
becauseoftheirinflammatorynature-therecipientof theloadedquestionis
compelledtodefend themselvesandmay appearflusteredor onthe backfoot.
GraceandHelen wereboth romanticallyinterestedinBrad. Oneday,with Bradsittingwithinearshot, Graceaskedin aninquisitivetone whetherHelen was
havinganyproblemswith adrug habit.
Believing that ‘runs’ occur to statistically independent
phenomena such as roulette wheel spins.
Thiscommonlybelievedfallacycanbe fairlysaidto havecreatedanentire cityin
thedesertof NevadaUSA.Thoughthe overalloddsof a‘bigrun’ happeningmay
below,each spinof thewheelis itselfentirelyindependentfromthe last.
Redhadcomeupsixtimesinarowon theroulettewheel,soGregknewthatit
wascloseto certainthatblackwouldbenextup.Sueringaneconomicform
ofnaturalselectionwiththisthinking,hesoonlostallofhissavings.
Appealing to popularity or the fact that many people do
something as an attempted form of validation.
Theflawinthisargumentisthatthepopularityofanideahasabsolutelyno
bearingonitsvalidity.Ifitdid,thentheEarthwouldhavemadeitselfflatfor
mostof historyto accommodatepeople’spopular belief.
Shamuspointeda drunkenfingeratSeanandaskedhimto explainhowso
manypeoplecould believein leprechaunsifthey’re onlya sillyold superstition.
Sean,however,hadhadafewtoomanyGuinnesshimselfandfellohischair.
Where two alternative states are presented as the only
possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.
Alsoknown asthe falsedilemma,this insidioustactichas theappearanceof
forminga logicalargument,butunder closerscrutiny itbecomes evidentthat
thereare morepossibilitiesthan theeither/or choicethat ispresented.
Whilstrallyingsupportfor hisplan tofundamentallyunderminecitizens’ rights,
theSupremeLeadertoldthepeopletheywereeitheronhisside,oron theside
oftheenemy.
A circular argument in which the conclusion is included
in the premise.
Thislogicallyincoherent argumentoftenarises insituations wherepeoplehave
anassumptionthatis veryingrained,andthereforetakenintheirmindsasa
given.Circularreasoningis badmostlybecause it’snot verygood.
ThewordofZorbotheGreatisflawlessandperfect.Weknowthisbecauseit
sayssoinTheGreatandInfallibleBookofZorbo’sBestandMostTruestThings
thatareDefinitelyTrueandShouldNotEverBeQuestioned.
Using the opinion or position of an authority figure, or
institution of authority, in place of an actual argument.
Muchof thetime expertshavebetter informationandunderstandingthan
others,but holdinga positionof authoritydoesn'tnecessarilymean that
someoneisright.Afterall,thehighestmedicalauthoritiesusedtothinkthatbleedingpeoplewas agood generalcurefor sickness.
Notabletodefendhispositionthatevolution‘isn’ttrue’Bobsaysthatheknows
ascientist whoalso questionsevolution(and presumablyisn’ta primate).
Making the argument that because something is ‘natural’
it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, or ideal.
Justbecausesomething isnatural doesn‘tmeanit’s good.For instancemurder
isnatural,butmostofus agreethatwedon'tthinkit'saverygoodthingtobe
doing,nor doesits 'naturalness'constituteanykind ofjustificationfor it.
Themedicine manrolled intotown onhis bandwagonoeringvariousnatural
remedies,suchasveryspecialplainwater.Hesaidthatitwasonlynaturalthat
peopleshould bewary of‘artificial’medicinessuch asantibiotics.
Assuming that what’s true about one part of something
has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.
Oftenwhensomethingistrueforthe partitdoesalsoapplytothewhole,but
becausethisisn’talwaysthecaseitcan’tbepresumedtobetrue.Wemust
showevidencefor whya consistencywillexist.
Danielwasa precociouschildandhadalikingforlogic.Hereasonedthat
atomsareinvisible,andthathewasmadeofatomsandthereforeinvisibletoo.
Unfortunately,despitehisthinkyskills,helostthegameofhideandgoseek.
Using personal experience or an isolated example instead
of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.
It’soften mucheasier forpeople tobelieve someone’stestimonyasopposed to
understandingvariationacrossa continuum.Quantitativescientificmeasures
arealmost alwaysmoreaccuratethan individualperceptionsandexperiences.
Jasonsaid thatthat wasall cooland everything,buthis grandfathersmoked,
like,30cigarettesadayandliveduntil97- sodon’tbelieveeverythingyouread
aboutmetaanalyses ofsound studiesshowingproven causalrelationships.
Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way
to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.
Inthis formof faultyreasoningone’sbelief isrendered unfalsifiablebecauseno
matterhowcompelling theevidence is,one simplyshiftsthe goalpostssothat
itwouldn’tapply toa supposedly‘true’example.
AngusdeclaresthatScotsmendonotputsugarontheirporridge,towhich
Lachlanpointsoutthatheis aScotsmanandputssugaronhisporridge.
Furious,likeatrueScot,Angusyellsthatno trueScotsmansugarshis porridge.
Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two
extremes is the truth.
Muchofthetimethetruthdoesindeedliebetweentwoextremepoints,butthis
canbiasour thinking:sometimesathing issimplyuntrue anda compromiseof
itisalsountrue.Halfwaybetweentruthandalie,isstillalie.
Hollysaidthat vaccinationscaused autisminchildren,but herscientifically
well-readfriendCalebsaid thatthisclaim hadbeen debunkedandprovenfalse.
Theirfriend Aliceoereda compromisethatvaccinationscausesomeautism.
Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it
comes from, or from whom it comes.
Toappealto prejudicessurroundingsomething’soriginis anotherred herring
fallacy.Thisfallacyhas thesame functionas anad hominem,butapplies
insteadto perceptionssurroundingsomething’ssourceor context.
Accusedonthe 6o’clocknews ofcorruption andtakingbribes,the senatorsaid
thatweshouldallbeverywaryofthethingswehearinthemedia,becausewe
allknowhow veryunreliablethe mediacanbe.
Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to
mislead or misrepresent the truth.
Politiciansareoftenguiltyof usingambiguitytomisleadandwilllaterpointto
howtheyweretechnicallynotoutrightlyingiftheycomeunderscrutiny.It’saparticularlytrickyandpremeditatedfallacyto commit.
Whenthe judgeaskedthe defendantwhyhe hadn'tpaidhis parkingfines,he
saidthathe shouldn'thaveto paythembecausethe signsaid'Fine forparking
here'andso henaturallypresumedthatitwouldbefinetoparkthere.
Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between
things means that one is the cause of the other.
Manypeopleconfuse correlation(thingshappeningtogether orin sequence)
forcausation(that onething actuallycausesthe otherto happen).Sometimes
correlationis coincidental,orit maybe attributabletoa commoncause.
Pointingtoa fancychart,Roger showshow temperatureshave beenrising overthepastfewcenturies,whilstatthesametimethenumbersofpirateshave
beendecreasing;thus piratescoolthe worldand globalwarmingis ahoax.
Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued,
or a fallacy has been made, that it is necessarily wrong.
Thereare fewthingsmore frustratingthanwatchingsomeone poorlyargue a
positiononeholds.Muchof thetimeadebateiswonnotbecausethevictorisright,butbecause s/heis betterat debatingthantheir opponent.
RecognisingthatAmandahad committedafallacyin arguingthatwe should
eathealthyfood becauseit waspopular,Alyse resolvedtoeat bacondouble
cheeseburgerseveryday.
Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or
compelling argument.
Appealsto emotionincludeappeals tofear, envy,hatred,pity,pride, andmore.
Thougha validargumentmaysometimes havean emotionalaspect,one mustbecareful thatemotion doesn’treplacesensiblelogic.
Lukedidn’twant toeat hissheep’sbrains withchoppedliver andbrussels
sprouts,buthisfathertoldhimtothinkaboutthepoor,starvingchildrenin a
thirdworldcountrywhoweren’tfortunateenoughtohaveanyfoodatall.
Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it
back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.
Literallytranslatingas‘you too’this fallacyiscommonly employedasan
eectiveredherringbecauseittakestheheatotheaccusedhavingtodefendthemselvesandshifts thefocus backonto theaccuser themselves.
Theblue candidateaccusedthe redcandidateofcommittingthe tuquoque
fallacy.Theredcandidaterespondedbyaccusingthe bluecandidateofthe same,
afterwhichensuedan hourof backandforth criticismwithnotmuch progress.
Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person
making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.
Theburdenof prooflieswithsomeonewhoismakingaclaim,andisnot upon
anyoneelse todisprove.The inability,ordisinclination,to disproveaclaim doesnotmakeitvalid(howeverwemustalwaysgobythe bestavailableevidence).
Bertranddeclaresthata teapotis,atthisverymoment,inorbitaroundtheSun
betweentheEarthandMars,andthatbecausenoone canprovehimwrong
hisclaimisthereforeavalidone.
Saying that because one finds something dicult to
understand that it’s therefore not true.
Complexsubjectslike biologicalevolutionthroughnatural selectionrequire
someamountofunderstandingofhowtheyworkbeforeoneisabletoproperlygraspthem; thisfallacyis usuallyused inplace ofthat understanding.
Kirkdrewa pictureofa fishandahumanandwitheusivedisdainaskedRichard
ifhereallythoughtwewerestupidenoughtobelievethatafishsomehow
turnedintoa humanthroughjust,like, randomthingshappeningovertime.
Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a
claim is shown to be false.
Humansarefunny creaturesandhave afoolish aversionto beingwrong.
Ratherthanappreciatethe benefitsof beingableto changeone’smind through
betterunderstanding,manywill inventwaysto clingto oldbeliefs.
EdwardJohnsclaimed tobe psychic,butwhen his‘abilities’weretested underproperscientificconditions,they magicallydisappeared.Edwardexplainedthis
sayingthatonehadtohavefaithinhisabilitiesforthemtowork.
Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will
consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.
Theproblemwiththisreasoningisthatitavoidsengagingwiththeissueat
hand,andinstead shiftsattentionto baselessextremehypotheticals.The merits
ofthe originalargumentare thentaintedby unsubstantiatedconjecture.
ColinClosetassertsthatifweallowsame-sexcouplestomarry,thenthenextthingweknowwe’llbeallowingpeopletomarrytheirparents,theircarsand
evenmonkeys.