In this article I will discuss some of my favorite fallacies! I believe that some of these fallacies are overlooked often enough to be taken note of. Next time someone argues with you, try bringing one of them up!
1. Gambler's Fallacy
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The Gambler's Fallacy is the idea that if something does not happen as often, then it will happen more often as time goes on. This is the essential mistake every gambler makes: "The dice haven't come up as 5 in 7 rolls! The next roll has to be a 5!" This is a false because once the dice are rolled, the chances that it will land on 5 will be the same as before.
2. The "Tu Quoque" Ad Hominem Fallacy
"Tu Quoque" is Latin for "You also." Here is an example: "Dr. Rogers claims that you should stop smoking cigarettes because they cause lung cancer and are generally bad for your health. But you shouldn't trust him! He's a smoker himself!" The fact that Dr. Rogers is a smoker does not change the fact that cigarettes are still harmful. Therefore, this person's argument is fallacious.
3. Appeal to Pity
The appeal to pity is incredibly common. Example: "I should get this job because I've been out of work for too long and can no longer afford my house." When you're hiring someone for a job, the fact that they're poor is not something that qualifies them as able to do the job properly. Therefore, it would be fallacious to argue that you should get the job simply because you've been out of work for too long.
4. Amphiboly
Besides having a funny name, this one can result in some funny sentences. Take this headline from a newspaper for example: "HOSPITALS BEING SUED BY 8 FOOT DOCTORS." Are 8 foot doctors suing the hospitals or are 8 podiatrists suing the hospitals? This is a fallacy of ambiguity. You could not use this sentence in an argument because it has two separate meanings!
5. Fallacy of Accident
The idea behind fallacies of accident is that one assumes that something cannot be different from what it is. For example: "All of the apples in this bowl are green. Therefore, every apple in the world is green." This would be a fallacy of accident because the person is assuming that apples cannot be different colors based on this one bowl.
6. Weak Analogy
A weak analogy is very simple. Example: "Most victorious superbowl teams have a good quarterback. This year *insert team here* has a good quarterback. Therefore, they will win the sperbowl." This is a weak analogy because other winning superbowl teams have also had good defensive capabilities. However, this analogy only claims that the team will win due to quarterbacks.
7. False Dichotomy
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This is essentially when someone tries to make a choice simpler than it really is. Example: "We either use this money to fund our schools, or let our children grow up to be stupid." This is a false dichotomy because the money can certainly be applied in other ways to help improve the education of children besides putting it directly into the school system.
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