25 fallacies that may lead us to believe

Weird Things

(One of the books on my reading list.) Roderick Freeman has thirty, and elaborates on them in chapter 3 of his (online!) book on logical reasoning. (Thanks to Olivier Travers for that pointer.)

Problems in Scientific Thinking

1. Theory Influences Observations
2. The Observer Changes the Observed
3. Equipment Constructs Results

Problems in Pseudoscientific Thinking

4. Anecdotes do not make science
5. Scientific Language does not make science
6. Bold statements do not make claims true
7. Heresy does not equal correctness
8. Burden of proof
9. Rumors do not equal reality
10. Unexplained is not inexplicable
11. Failures are rationalized
12. After-the-Fact Reasoning (post hoc, ergo propter hoc)
13. Coincidence
14. Representativeness

Logical Problems in Thinking

15. Emotive Words and False analogies
16. Ad Ignorantiam (If you can't disprove it, it must be true)
17. Ad Hominem (to the man) and Tu Quoque (You also)
18. Hasty generalization
19. Overreliance on authorities
20. Either-or
21. Circular reasoning
22. Reductio ad Absurdum and the Slippery Slope

Psychological Problems in Thinking

23. Effort Inadequacies and the need for certainty, control, and simplicity
24. Problem-solving inadequacies
25. Ideological immunity, or the Planck problem

Tom von Alten      tva_∂t_fortboise_⋅_org

http://www.anybrowser.org/

Sunday, 29-Apr-2001 20:26:21 MDT
http://fortboise.org/useful/25fallacies.html