Logical fallacies - Statistics

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General Stats

This quiz has been taken 122 times
113 since last reset
The average score is 9 of 36

Answer Stats

Hint	Answer	% Correct
Latin for 'to the man', where someone personally attacks the arguer rather than the substance of their argument.	Ad hominem	79%
Example: "You don't know what you're talking about because you're stupid."	Ad hominem	79%
Covertly replacing an opponent's argument with a different proposition, and then to refute or defeat that false argument instead of the original proposition.	Strawman	66%
Example: "We should spend less money on weapons." "So you want to leave use defenseless?"	Strawman	66%
Also called a 'Camel's nose', where one thing will lead to another, much more serious thing.	Slippery slope	60%
Example: "If we legalise gay marriage then people will start marrying lamps, and then chairs, and then there'll be a nuclear holocaust."	Slippery slope	60%
Selective use of only small or a few snippets of evidence or things that look like evidence to reinforce an argument, perhaps even in the face of contrary evidence.	Cherry picking	38%
Example: "Dr Stu Pidd published a study that proves that breathing kills you, therefore breathing should be banned."	Cherry picking	38%
Fallacy that reinterprets evidence in order to prevent the refutation of one's position.	No true Scotsman	34%
Example: "You're not a feminist because a real feminist wouldn't say that."	No true Scotsman	34%
Where the options presented are limited (and/or mutually exclusive), and reasonable alternatives are omitted.	False dichotomy	33%
When differences in data are ignored, but similarities are stressed, named after a joke where a Texan shoots a wall, and then paints a target where most bullet holes are closest together.	Texas sharpshooter fallacy	32%
Making a rhetorical statement that assumes the truth of the assertion you're attempting to prove.	Begging the Question	28%
Example: "If you're so smart then what am I thinking right now?"	Begging the Question	28%
Example: "If you are not with me then you are against me."	False dichotomy	20%
When someone concludes that an event causes another simply because it happened first	Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc	18%
Example: "The cows we lying down when it was raining. Cows can control the weather."	Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc	18%
A logical fallacy in which one reaches an unwarranted conclusion without considering all the facts.	Hasty Generalization	17%
Also know as the Bandwagon fallacy, which appeals to peer pressure or popular opinion rather than evidence.	Ad Populum	17%
Example: "All the cool kids at school smoke and I wanted to be cool so I started smoking."	Ad Populum	17%
If P, then Q; Q. Therefore, P.	Affirming the consequent	13%
Example: "All elephants are pink; Nelly is an elephant. Nelly is pink."	Affirming the consequent	13%
The misleading use of a term with more than one meaning or sense by glossing over which meaning is intended at a particular time.	Equivocation	13%
Example: "2 wrongs don't make a right, but 3 lefts do."	Equivocation	13%
Example: "This year it was hotter than last year, therefore global warming accelerating rapidly".	Hasty Generalization	13%
Idea by Nicholas Shackel (2005), where an arguer makes broad statements in one scenario, and then retreats to a highly defensible position when challenged. Named after a medieval structure.	Motte and Bailey	12%
If P, then Q. Not P. Therefore, not Q.	Denying the antecedent	10%
Example: "Sugar is unhealthy; Diet Coke has no sugar. Diet Coke is healthy."	Denying the antecedent	10%
A self-evident truth that requires no proof and is therefore not questioned, or possibly even questionable.	Axiom	9%
The interpretation of specific shapes or sounds in random stimuli.	Pareidolia	7%
C.S. Lewis' concept: "Assume that your opponent is wrong, and explain his error"	Bulverism	6%
Example: "You would think that because you're racist."	Bulverism	6%
The human tendency to interpret meaningful patterns within random data.	Apophenia	4%
Claiming that something may be true for one person, but not for someone else	Relativist fallacy	2%
A result of hindsight bias. It happens when someone claims they predicted an event after it occurred, i,e, "retroactive clairvoyance."	Postdiction	1%
Example: "I will either fly or ruin that family's picnic."	Postdiction	1%

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