Fallacies bad reasons to believe George Matthews CC 2017 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 3. Whoever disagrees with me is obviously lying. 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 3. Whoever disagrees with me is obviously lying. The Trust Gap 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 3. Whoever disagrees with me is obviously lying. The Trust Gap 4. Our brains just don’t get what probability is all about. 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 3. Whoever disagrees with me is obviously lying. The Trust Gap 4. Our brains just don’t get what probability is all about. Neglect of Probability 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 3. Whoever disagrees with me is obviously lying. The Trust Gap 4. Our brains just don’t get what probability is all about. Neglect of Probability 5. We’d all rather “win” an argument than find out what is really true. 

5 reasons why today’s discussion might be pointless 1. Facts or better arguments don’t convince anyone. Confirmation Bias 2. Everyone else is stupid or lazy, I alone am the victim of circumstances. The Fundamental Attribution Error 3. Whoever disagrees with me is obviously lying. The Trust Gap 4. Our brains just don’t get what probability is all about. Neglect of Probability 5. We’d all rather “win” an argument than find out what is really true. The Argumentative Theory of Reason 

some different ways to commmit a fallacy 

some different ways to commmit a fallacy ! Make an irrelevant appeal: rest your case on things that really don’t entail your conclusion. 

some different ways to commmit a fallacy ! Make an irrelevant appeal: rest your case on things that really don’t entail your conclusion. ! Create a debating diversion: confuse the issue by not sticking to the topic at hand. 

some different ways to commmit a fallacy ! Make an irrelevant appeal: rest your case on things that really don’t entail your conclusion. ! Create a debating diversion: confuse the issue by not sticking to the topic at hand. ! Employ a heavy dose of presumption: use unwarranted assumptions to make your point. 

appeal to authority There are good reasons to doubt that human activity is causing the global climate to warm since these scientists here say that the evidence doesn’t support this claim. 

ad hominem / personal attack That animals rights activist is wearing leather shoes, so her arguments about why it is wrong to kill and eat animals are not to be taken seri- ously. 

appeal to emotion What they call a woman’s right to choose, should really be called “killing babies” and that is clearly wrong. 

bandwagon / popular appeal The death penalty must be a just and effec- tive punishment for murder since the majority of Americans think it is. 

genetic fallacy Clearly his argument that vaccines are safe must be flawed since he works for a pharmaceutical company. 

appeal to nature/naturalistic fallacy Since only women can have babies, they alone should be responsible for raising the brats. 

tu quoque My answer to your claims that I am corrupt be- cause I used money from my foundation for per- sonal expenses is simple. Have a look at what my political opponent has done with money from her foundation. 

anecdotal evidence Drinking water cures cancer. My aunt had can- cer and drank 3 gallons of water every day. She no longer has cancer. 

special pleading Of course your double blind test did not show that my miracle cure was effective. This is be- cause you have to have faith in the cure for it to work, and not knowing what you are taking prevents this. 

strawman My opponent wants to cut military spending. I for one do not think that abolishing the military is such a good idea. 

fallacy fallacy Monsanto claims that GMO’s are safe. But their argument relies on a fallacy. This is a good reason to think that they are not in fact safe. 

loaded question Have you gotten that drug problem under control yet? 

personal incredulity / appeal to ignorance I just don’t see how machines, which are made of metal and plastic could possibly think like us humans who are made of flesh and blood. This is why it seems to me that Artificial Intelligence is impossible. 

burden of proof You have to prove to me that the 9/11 attacks were NOT carried out by the US government. Otherwise I have a perfectly good reason for thinking that they were. 

no true Scotsman A: “Not all Republicans are fascists, my friend Fred is a Republican and he opposes militarizing the police!” B: “Well that just proves he’s not really a Re- publican.” 

begging the question You should be a Christian because if you are not, as the Bible says, you will find yourself in Hell after you die. 

false cause Smoking pot leads to using cocaine and even heroin. We know this because people who do coke or shoot smack started out smoking pot. 

slippery slope We shouldn’t legalize pot, since if we do more people will end up as junkies. 

black or white / false dichotomy Either you are for the Democratic candidate or you are a traitor. 

middle ground The IPCC is saying that climate change is an im- manent threat to civilization, thus we need to drastically cut back on carbon emissions. Cli- mate skeptics, however, insist that there is no threat at all. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle so we should try to reduce carbon emissions by a little bit. 

ambiguity / equivocation I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. 

composition / division The human mind must be something besides networks of interconnected neurons because neurons are stupid little machines and the mind is capable of intelligence and free choice. 

Texas sharpshooter There is a study that shows the effectiveness of acupuncture for curing the common cold. 

gambler’s fallacy I haven’t had a big payoff at the slot machines for quite some time. That must mean that I am due for a big win soon, so will you lend me some cash?