8 logical fallacies that are hard to spot - Deepstash
Master Public Speaking

Learn more about problemsolving with this collection

How to adapt to different speaking situations

How to engage with an audience

How to use body language effectively

Master Public Speaking

Discover 54 similar ideas in

It takes just

7 mins to read

Fallacies

A fallacy is the use of faulty reasoning in an argument.

There are formal and informal fallacies:

  • A formal fallacy describes a flaw in the construction of a deductive argument.
  • An informal fallacy describes an error in reasoning.

283

995 reads

Appeal to privacy

In this fallacy, someone behaves in a way that negatively affects others but then gets upset when others criticize their behavior. They will reply with a "mind your own business."
For instance, someone who doesn't see a reason to bathe, but then boards a full 10-hour flight.

250

732 reads

Sunk cost fallacy

It happens when someone continues in a course of action, even if evidence shows that it's a mistake.

Common phrase: "We've always done it this way, so we'll keep doing it this way." "I've already invested so much..."

270

701 reads

​If-by-whiskey

If-by-whiskey is a fallacy named after a speech given in 1952 by Noah S. Sweat Jr. It is used to conceal a lack of a position or to dodge a tough question. 

If, by whiskey, you mean the brew that causes so many problems, then I'm against it. But if whiskey means the oil of conversation, the philosopher's wine, then I am certainly for it.

259

610 reads

​Slippery slope

This fallacy involves arguing against a position because you think the ideas would start a chain reaction of bad things, even though you don't have evidence to support your claim.

Common phrase: "If we do that, then what's next?"

245

583 reads

​"There is no alternative"

This fallacy argues for a specific position because there are no other realistic alternatives.
Common phrase: "What else are we going to do?"

241

591 reads

Ad hoc arguments

This is a common fallacious rhetorical strategy that is difficult to spot.

It occurs when someone's claim is threatened with counter-evidence. They then come up with a rationale to dismiss the counter-evidence in the hope to protect their original claim.

251

550 reads

Snow job

In this fallacy, when someone doesn't have a strong argument, they will sprout irrelevant facts, numbers, anecdotes and other information to confuse the issue.

263

904 reads

McNamara fallacy

This fallacy occurs when decisions are made based on observations or quantitative criteria while ignoring other factors.
Common phrase: "You can't measure that, so it's not important."

240

656 reads

CURATED BY

benqxx

Success is the sum of small efforts repeated every day.

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

—

Access to the mobile app

—

Unlimited idea saving & library

—

—

Unlimited history

—

—

Unlimited listening to ideas

—

—

Downloading & offline access

—

—

Personalized recommendations

—

—

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates