In general, fallacy stand for a kind of error in reasoning an argument. From the perspective of science, fallacy are described as an error in reasoning, which usually means that either the line of reasoning is flawed, or the objects in the premise of the argument are dissimilar to the objects in the conclusion. Scientists are not immune to logical fallacies and are susceptible to making arguments based on unsound reasoning.
"There must be fairies living in our attic because nobody’s ever proven that there aren’t fairies living in our attic."
"When ice cream sales are up, so are shark attacks. Therefore, buying ice cream increases your risk of being bitten by a shark."
"Peppers are the easiest vegetable to grow because I think peppers are the easiest vegetable to grow."
We must have heard before this type of arguments being thrown by people. The arguments seem to have it's own logic behind it. But, if we think deep enough from scientific perspective, something's wrong can be detected because science does not work just because we or even a scientist said it like that without showing a proper evidences. Sometimes, we might get it wrong. Thus, let's observe some of the fallacy we might encounter or even use before this.
Hasty Generalization
Meaning : A claim made on the basis of insufficient evidence. Instead of looking into examples and evidence that are much more in line with the typical or average situation, you draw a conclusion about a large population using a small sample.
Example : A small research about the intake of coffee that was done from small group of people might find that coffee intake is good for them. But, other studies published from other researchers will easily claim it otherwise.
Composition Fallacy
Meaning : Assuming that parts or members of a whole will have the same properties as the whole. This leads to wrong conclusions because what is true of the different parts is not necessarily true of the whole.
Example : if one species in an ecosystem is highly adaptable, that’s mean the whole ecosystem will be resilient to environmental changes. If this was correct, then we would never heard about the extinction of any species.
Division Fallacy
Meaning : Assumption that a characteristics that applies to a whole or a group must necessarily apply to the individual members as well.
Example : A bird is a type of animal that can fly. Thus, every bird species exist in this world can fly. But, have you ever saw a penguin or an ostrich fly before? That is also count as a bird.
Affirming the Consequent
Meaning : When a person draws a conclusion that if the consequent is true, then the antecedent must also be true.
Example : If human-caused climate change is happening, we will see an increase in extreme weather events.” Observing extreme weather events and concluding that they are solely due to human-caused climate change is affirming the consequent, as there could be other contributing factors like natural climate variability.
Texas Sharpshooter
Meaning : Illustrates how people first figure out what their conclusion is and then go looking for data that supports it while ignoring differences and do not account for randomness.
Example : A study is conducted to find the health benefits of a particular food, like blueberries. If researchers only emphasize data showing blueberries reduce inflammation while ignoring data showing minimal or no effects on other health markers, they may draw overly favorable conclusions about blueberries.
Affirming the Disjunct
Meaning : Occurs in a deductive argument when it is assumed, because one of multiple possibilities is true, that the other or others are false.
Example : Today, the weather is either raining or the sun is shining. If it’s raining, then the sun is not shining. This is obviously wrong as the sun will keep shining but only being block temporary by the raining clouds.
False Clause
Meaning : Occurs when someone incorrectly assumes that a causal relation exists between two things or events. This is an improper conclusion because either such a relationship does not exist or the evidence in support of it is insufficient.
Example : A famous claim in the 1990s suggested that vaccines cause autism, based largely on the observation that symptoms of autism often appear around the same age that children receive vaccines. In reality, autism is simply occur because of genetic problem.
Psychologist's Fallacy
Meaning : Occurs when an observer assumes that his or her subjective experience reflects the true nature of an event.
Example : a psychologist observing patients might assume that a particular behavior signifies anxiety because that’s how they would feel in the same situation. This assumption fails to account for individual differences in perception and experience, leading to misinterpretation of the patient’s actual feelings.
Single Cause Fallacy
Meaning : Occurs when it is assumed that there is a single simple cause of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by a number of small causes appeal to the event.
Example : Climate change occurs because of the greenhouse gas emissions. In reality, deforestation, industrial sectors and farming industries also lead to it.
Appeal to Consequences
Meaning : It's an argument that concludes a hypothesis to be either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable consequences.
Example : “Depending on the use of nuclear energy is risking for a catastrophic event”. Although there are plenty of nuclear power plant accidents in the past, nuclear energy is still in fact the most efficient source of low-carbon energy and did the less harm toward environment compare to other type of energy. Including, renewable energy industries.
Chronological Snobbery
Meaning : Considers modern ideas Superior to those from earlier ages just because they are modern it's a form of appeal to novelty
Example : A modern physicist might argue that classical physics (like Newtonian mechanics) is irrelevant because we now have quantum mechanics and relativity. This perspective can dismiss the significant contributions of classical physics, which still accurately describes a wide range of phenomena at everyday scales and remains fundamental in engineering and many applied sciences
Watch video above to gain a better understanding about logical fallacy
Business. (2019, June 6). Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/texas-sharpshooter-fallacy.asp#:~:text=The%20Texas%20Sharpshooter%20Fallacy%20is%20a%20logical%20fallacy%20based%20on,do%20not%20account%20for%20randomness.
Curtis, G. (n.d.). Logical Fallacy: Affirming a Disjunct. Copyright 2001-2017, Gary N. Curtis. Permission Is Granted for Non-commercial Use and Replication of This Material for Educational Purposes, Provided That Appropriate Notice Is Included of Both Its Authorship and Copyrighted Status. https://www.fallacyfiles.org/afonedis.html
Fallacies | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (n.d.). https://iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#AbusiveAdHominem
Sjoberg, E. A. (2017). Logical fallacies in animal model research. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12993-017-0121-8
The Paint Explainer. (2023, December 24). Every Logical Fallacy Explained in 11 Minutes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCg-SNOteQQ