THIS IS FOR WHAT *NOT* TO DO!! I've seen some people get a bit confused! Sorry lol So to be as clear as possible, DON'T DO THESE! AVOID THEM!!! Hello! I'm slightly a language nerd and I've visited the forums a lot, and I've seen many logical fallacies. I'll be explaining what logical fallacies are, detailing the most common ones, less common ones, and examples. Definition of logical fallacies: An argument or defense that sounds logically sound, but is actually flawed and misleading You want to AVOID using these! They make your argument weak and untrustworthy! Most common to least common ones I've seen on Scratch's forums: 1. Red Herring Fallacy Definition: Information that seems to answer a question or prove a point, but is misleading and distracts you from the discussion at hand Example: Person1: "Texting while driving is bad." Person2: "Texting helps you communicate with others!" Person2 brings up texting, but completely ignores the part about driving. Person1 never said all texting was bad 2. Personal Incredulity Fallacy (Often confused with Appeal to ignorance) Definition: Assuming something MUST be false because you personally cannot believe it. Example: Person1: "Serial Killers tend to be very charismatic and charming." Person2: "That makes no sense. They kill people. That's not true." Person2 doesn't believe it because they personally cannot understand. Their understanding doesn't change the main point 3. Appeal to Ignorance Fallacy Definition: Stating something is true/false because there is no evidence against/for the claim Examples: Person1: "Unicorns don't exist because there is no evidence to prove their existence!" Or Person2: "Unicorns exist because there is no evidence to prove they don't exist!" Both are using the fallacy. The lack of evidence for the unicorns doesn't prove or disprove anything 4. Slippery Slope Fallacy Definition: Assuming a single action will lead to something extremely drastic and unwanted Example: Person1: "Schools shouldn't be allowed to keep phones all day." Person2: "Without the punishment, students will start to use phones whenever! They won't learn anything, so they won't get into college and get a job. Then, they'll starve on the streets! Is that what you want?" Person2 has made up an entirely fictional story that has lead to a very bad outcome to make person1's claim seem awful 5. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc. (Also known as Post Hoc, or Hasty Generalization Fallacy) Definition: Rushing a conclusion based on bad evidence without considering other variables. Example: Person1: "I ate acorns every day this week and I haven't gotten sick. Therefore, eating acorns prevents sickness." This is purely personal experience without any outside statistics or facts. 6. Bandwagon Fallacy Definition: Assuming something is true or okay because everyone else is doing it Example: Person1: "Smoking is bad for you." Person2: "But everyone else is doing it!" The fact that everyone is doing it doesn't change the fact that it's bad for you 7. False Dilemma Fallacy (Also known as Either-or Fallacy or False Dichotomy Fallacy) Definition: Creating only two possible outcomes when another option is possible Example: Person1: "You can either stay in your job, or quit and go homeless." Person1 is stating that you only have two options, when in reality you can find another job or find another situation where you wouldn't go homeless. 8. Begging the Question Fallacy Definition: Assuming an idea is true without further explanation Person1: "The court's decision must be fair because it was made by an unbiased judge and jury." It begs the question, how do they know they were unbiased? What defined unbiased for you? 9. Circular Argument Fallacy Definition: Stating something is true by using the claim as proof for your argument (look at the example! This one is hard to explain lol) Example: Person1: "Steve is always right!" Person2: "Why?" Person1: "Because Steve is never wrong!" Person2: "Why?" Person1: "Because Steve is always right!" The argument loops forever. Person1 is using their claim as support for their defense. 10. Tu Quoque Fallacy (Pronunciation: Too Kwo kweh) Definition: Turning criticism back onto the person who made the criticism. Example: Person1: "This game has a lot of bugs." Person2: "I doubt you could do a better job!" Person1's ability to make a game has nothing to do with the issues of the game and person1 never claimed they could do a better job anyway. 11. Nirvana Fallacy Definition: Stating a solution is false simply because it is imperfect. Example: Person1: Getting a vaccine is pointless because it won't guarantee I won't get sick. Even if you still can get sick, an imperfect solution is often better than no solution. I see this one a lot on the forums. Cont. On notes and credits
12. Straw man Fallacy Definition: Intentionally misrepresenting an argument to make it easier to take down Example: Person1: "I'm more of a cat person" Person2: "Does that mean you hate dogs?" Person2 completely misrepresented what person1 said 13. Fallacy Fallacy Definition: Assuming that an argument is incorrect because it has been poorly argued. Example: Person1: "You know nothing about smoking! You can't make a good argument as to why it's not bad!" Person2: "That's a bad argument! Therefore, your argument is incorrect and wrong." Person1 did make a mistake, however, it doesn't throw out the whole argument, nor should it. Ideas are not the people who represent them I did NOT, I repeat NOT include all the fallacies that exist! Just ones I've seen on the forums. If you want more, idk. Lemme know. also, feel free to ask me if you are unsure if something is a logical fallacy or not
