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  1. #1
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    Logical Fallacy Game

    I thought it might be fun if we started a "name that logical fallacy" game. I'll start with a fairly easy one. The goal is to name the logical fallacy employed in the following statement. Whoever gets it correct asks the next question, and so on. If nothing else, it's good practice.

    Here's the statement:

    "The earth must be flat, because nobody has ever proven otherwise."

    I know it's an easy one, but I wanted to get the ball rolling.

    Rules:

    1) Only reply if you have a guess or answer.
    2) Only post a new fallacy if you have correctly named the last fallacy.

  2. #2
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    They have proven it though.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by RICH1471 View Post
    They have proven it though.
    So... what's the fallacy called?

  4. #4
    Argument to Ignorance. Had to Google the definition to find the name lol. Fallacy states that just because something hasn't been disproved, doesn't make it true. Also, you could have had a better example because the Earth is kind of proven to be round.

    Next one (also easy): A vehicle is made up of a multitude of small parts, such as wires and bolts, therefore the whole vehicle must be small!

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Ambush View Post
    So... what's the fallacy called?
    Being wrong? Ignoring facts? Ignorance?

    It's not really a fallacy; it's just an error.

    Edit: Ah, so it's more a matter of ignoring whether it's factual and looking only at the reasoning behind it? I see now.
    Last edited by Nalnik; 2012-02-24 at 06:55 PM.

  6. #6
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance
    Appeal to ignorance.
    Here's an easy one.
    "Murdering people is wrong, because we've always considered murdering people wrong since the dawn of civilization."


    Aww man I'm late

  7. #7
    Stood in the Fire Linaver's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nalnik View Post
    Being wrong? Ignoring facts? Ignorance?

    It's not really a fallacy; it's just an error.
    Logic is not about truth or falseness of the facts or knowledge behind the statement. It is about uhm.. logic. It doesn't matter if the actual statement is true or false in real life, just that the conclusion reached follows from the premise.

    The fallacy is in the word "must". Ignoring the real world and actual knowledge of science, if the earth is not proven to be not flat it could be flat, or round, or a square or anything really. Stating that it "must" be flat is a wrong and baseless conclusion.

    ps: I went to like 3 classes of logic 101 at uni, biggest mind rape of my life.
    Last edited by Linaver; 2012-02-24 at 06:55 PM.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Purifier View Post
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance
    Appeal to ignorance.
    Here's an easy one.
    "Murdering people is wrong, because we've always considered murdering people wrong since the dawn of civilization."


    Aww man I'm late
    Circular reasoning


    "The pyramids are too big - therefore aliens did it"

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Cattaclysmic View Post
    "The pyramids are too big - therefore aliens did it"
    Also sounds like Appeal to Ignorance. "We don't know how it happened, but it must have happened somehow, so here's this far-fetched theory that can't be demonstrated one way or another!"

    Here's mine. We'll start with an easy one.

    "My opponent opposes the sale of tobacco and cigarettes on health grounds, citing the noxious fumes, lung problems, second-hand smoke, and cancer. To all of this I need only rebut with one point. Do you know who else recently opposed cigarettes? ... That's right, Adolf Hitler. One of the worst mass murderers in world history couldn't stand smoking around him. The foulest, most despicable, most deplorable individual of our times was a non-smoker. It doesn't take a genius to discern the trend here, folks. Keep that in mind when you cast your ballots."

  10. #10
    That one is so common there is a fallacy specifically for it - Reductio ad Hitlerum (i.e., playing the Nazi card).

    There are probably a couple of others that may fit it as well. Appeal to emotion/fear comes to mind.
    Last edited by Biged781; 2012-02-24 at 09:52 PM.

  11. #11
    Merely a Setback Adam Jensen's Avatar
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    The earth must be flat because your mother is hamster and your father smells of elderberries.
    Putin khuliyo

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by orissa View Post
    The earth must be flat because your mother is hamster and your father smells of elderberries.
    That is so ridiculous I don't believe that finding a common logical fallacy would be required... or even possible.

    Here's mine:

    Last month there was a metoer shower. My wife and I have been trying to have a child for years now with no luck. Lo and behold, my wife discovered that she conceived last month! It must have been the meteor shower!

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Biged781 View Post
    Last month there was a metoer shower. My wife and I have been trying to have a child for years now with no luck. Lo and behold, my wife discovered that she conceived last month! It must have been the meteor shower!
    Correlation-Causation Fallacy. A plurality of events are believed to be connected because they coincidentally occurred at the same time or at the same place, when there is actually no underlying connection. The correlation is that there was a meteor shower and your wife conceived; the causation was that the two of you decided it would be romantic to have sex outside beneath a meteor shower.

    Another one:

    "Violence is like duct tape. The only reason it isn't working is because you aren't using enough."

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by TacTican View Post
    Correlation-Causation Fallacy. A plurality of events are believed to be connected because they coincidentally occurred at the same time or at the same place, when there is actually no underlying connection. The correlation is that there was a meteor shower and your wife conceived; the causation was that the two of you decided it would be romantic to have sex outside beneath a meteor shower.

    Another one:

    "Violence is like duct tape. The only reason it isn't working is because you aren't using enough."
    Yep, though I prefer the canonical "post hoc ergo propter hoc" (this, therefore, because of this) because, you know, it sounds all smart and stuff... :P

    Going "false analogy" for yours.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Biged781 View Post
    Yep, though I prefer the canonical "post hoc ergo propter hoc" (this, therefore, because of this) because, you know, it sounds all smart and stuff... :P

    Going "false analogy" for yours.
    Er, "post hoc ergo propter hoc" is better rendered as "after this, therefore, because of this", but yes.

    Here's another (famous) example:

    Poll results indicate that in the upcoming election ...

  16. #16
    Dreadlord Lotharfox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Biged781 View Post
    Last month there was a metoer shower. My wife and I have been trying to have a child for years now with no luck. Lo and behold, my wife discovered that she conceived last month! It must have been the meteor shower!
    That's called "specious reasoning," to say something is true without proof or merit.

    I don't understand the game, but here's a riddle that someone told me today that seems like a violation of logic:

    Riddle: What is the difference between a duck?
    Answer: One leg is the same.

    Thank you zomgname for the signature and avatar!

  17. #17
    Argumentum ad ignorantium

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by orissa View Post
    The earth must be flat because your mother is hamster and your father smells of elderberries.
    that one actually is a fallacy. Ad Hominem I believe? It basically means "attacking the person rather than the issue" the one I read about made me laugh:

    "Say you believe x would fix y problem (i forget the example) and I deny x on the grounds that you are an old bag. That's irrelevant. You could very well be an old bag, and x could be the best solution to the problem. The two are not mutually exclusive.
    Quote Originally Posted by Aucald View Post
    Having the authority to do a thing doesn't make it just, moral, or even correct.

  19. #19
    People eat chocolate, therefore chocolate is tasty.

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