Logical Fallacies

Ad Hominem
Attacking the person you are arguing with rather than their argument to distract them and others from the actual discussion. People are forced to defend themselves and their credibility rather than the argument they have made.

Ad Nauseum
The use of repetition to make something seem more believable or true. It works in two common ways; nagging people into submission or feeding someone's confirmation bias.

Butterfly Logic
From the person's point of view, two subject matters are relative in a cause-and-effect style.

Example:


 * "If the younger generation is coming out and being proud about their LGBT identities and there's more LGBT representation in the media, the media is clearly teaching our children to be gay."

Gambler's Fallacy
The idea that chance is affected by more than just being random, but also by "signs" or events, skill, or even luck.

Example:


 * "If the roulette table has landed on black 9 times in a row, it's more likely that it'll land on red next"
 * "Every time I step outside my apartment, no matter when, my neighbor is always there to talk my ear off."

Slippery Slope
Extrapolating a proposal to conclusions that are unreasonable and often tied to emotional positions.

Example:


 * "If we legalize gay marriage what's next, letting pedophiles marry kids?"

Appeal to Fear
Attacking an argument with some sort of threat or consequence. It is a scare tactic.

Example:


 * "If you vote for this proposal we will all suffer the consequences."

Appeal to Tradition
Claiming something that has been done for a long time is the correct way to do something.

Example:


 * "What you want does not matter. Your Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather all joined the military. It is your duty to this family and country."

Wishful Thinking
It is something I want to be true and factual. It is the attribution of reality to what one wishes to be true or the tenuous justification of what one wants to believe.

False Analogy
Is an informal fallacy because the error is about what the argument is all about.

Accident
an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury. It is also an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause.

False Compromise
The false compromise fallacy is the assumption, without evaluating the totality of the situation, that the best solution is somewhere between A and B.

 Nestor Balboa 

The Strawman

Creating a strawman means to misrepresent your opponent’s argument because it is easier to attack compared to his or her actual argument. It’s essentially creating an easier target so that it can be knocked down to support your own idea.

Example:


 * First senator: The nation is in debt and we should not add to the defense budget. Second senator: I cannot believe you want to leave the nation defenseless!

Circular Reasoning

Arguments can sometimes go around in circles and appear to go nowhere. This frustrating feeling generally develops when it feels like the other person may be restating an argument rather than trying to prove it.

Example: George Bush is a good communicator because he speaks effectively.

Anecdotal Evidence

Anecdotes come from personal experience, and while understanding our experiences is great, it doesn’t always strengthen an argument. Sure, it can be convincing and add color to your conversation, but generalizing one person’s experience to a mass typically is not very compelling evidence.

Example: One of our clients doubled their conversions after changing all their landing page text to bright red. Therefore, changing all text to red is a proven way to double conversions.

Tu Quoque

Tu qouque in Latin translates to “you too,” and this fallacy occurs when one side engages in criticism with criticism.

Example :


 * "You shouldn't have that second piece of cake. It's so fattening" "Didn't you eat an entire tub of ice cream yesterday?"

The Middle Ground

It’s easy to settle for the middle. The middle ground fallacy says that a person can claim that a compromise or middle ground between two extremes has to be true.

Example: Lola thinks the best way to improve conversions is to redesign the entire company website, but John is firmly against making any changes to the website. Therefore, the best approach is to redesign some portions of the website.