Fallacies

Question 1

strawman

Answer 1

You misrepresent someone’s argument make it easier to attack.

Question 2

False Cause

Answer 2

You perceived that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other.

Question 3

Appeal to Emotion

Answer 3

You attempt to manipulate an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.

Starving children in China

Question 4

The fallacy fallacy

Answer 4

You presumed that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong.

Question 5

Slippery slope

Answer 5

You said If we allow A to happen, then Z will eventually happen too, therefore A should not happen.

Question 6

Ad hominem

Answer 6

You attack you opponent’s character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument.

Question 7

Tu quoque

Answer 7

You answer criticism with criticism, failing to engage with criticism by turning it back on your accuser

Question 8

Personal Incredulity

Answer 8

Because you found something difficult to understand, or are unaware of how it works, you made out like it’s probably not true.

Question 9

Special Pleading

Answer 9

You make up an exception or move the goal posts when your claim was shown false.

Question 10

Loaded Question

Answer 10

Your question has a built in assumption so that it can not be answered without appearing guilty

Question 11

Burden of proof

Answer 11

You said the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.

Question 12

Ambiguity

Answer 12

You used a double meaning or ambiguity of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.

Question 13

The gambler’s fallacy

Answer 13

You said that “runs” occur to statistically independent phenomena such as roulette.

Question 14

Bandwagon

Answer 14

You appealed to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation

Question 15

Appeal to authority

Answer 15

You said that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true.

Question 16

Composition/division

Answer 16

You assumed that one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it; or that the whole must apply to its parts.

Atoms/human invisibility

Question 17

No true scotsman

Answer 17

You made what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of your argument

Question 18

Genetic

Answer 18

You judged something is either good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it came.

Question 19

Black-or-white

Answer 19

You presented two alternative states as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.

Question 20

Begging the question

Answer 20

You presented a circular argument in which the conclusion was included in the premise.

Question 21

Appeal to nature

Answer 21

You argued that because something is “natural” it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good or ideal.

The medicine man.

Question 22

Anecdotal

Answer 22

You used a personal experience or an isolated example instead of a sound argument or compelling evidence.

Smoking Grandpa

Question 23

The Texas Sharpshooter

Answer 23

You cherry-picked a data cluster to suit your argument, or found a pattern to fit a presumption.

Soda pop being sold in healthy countries

Question 24

Middle Ground

Answer 24

You claimed that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes must be the truth.