Fallacies
Introduction
A fallacy is a faulty argument, one that seems persuasive does not make logical sense when you really think about it (Schagrin and Rescher 2020). There are so many different types of fallacies the Wikipedia page lists over 100! This page gives an overview of probably the two most common words you hear regarding fallacies- cherry-picking and straw man.
Cherry-picking and anecdotal evidence
One example of a fallacy is what is called “cherry-picking”. This is picking the evidence that supports your argument and ignoring the rest, even when there is a lot more evidence against the argument. One example might be using “anecdotal evidence”- stories from your own life- even when it goes against the larger pattern. Your friend’s illness being cured by an alternative diet does not change the research saying that that diet does not work. One case does not prove much.
Climate change deniers can cherry pick data, like in this video."20200327 Climate change deniers cherry picking time periods" by RCraig09 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Straw man
A straw man argument is another logical fallacy. This is when you misrepresent your opponent’s argument (Walton 1996). Another way to say this is that you argue against an opinion no-one is arguing.
A biased news show might, for example, might say that “the left” or “the right” are saying something ridiculous-sounding. Think to yourself: is there a collective “left” or “right” who all have the same opinions? Or is it likely that maybe one person said something on social media and it was purposefully misinterpreted and used to paint all political parties of a certain view in a bad light?
Source list
Page created 23rd of April 2024.