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.