Category Archives: Rules of Logic

Vaccine injuries and confirmation biases

Humans are remarkably bad at accurately discerning patterns. All of us (skeptics included) are prone to confirmation biases and logical flaws in reasoning. We don’t like to be wrong, and, as a result, we tend to cling to things that … Continue reading

Posted in Rules of Logic, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Don’t attack the straw men: Straw man fallacies and reductio ad absurdum fallacies

People love to argue. We all have views and opinions, and we tend to promote them prominently and viciously attack opposing ideas. There is nothing inherently wrong with that as long as your views are evidence-based and you use proper … Continue reading

Posted in Rules of Logic | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Don’t tell people to “Google it.” That’s your job, not theirs

I spend a lot of time debating people on the internet, and, unsurprisingly, I frequently encounter people who make outlandish claims without providing any evidence to support those claims. In such situations, I typically ask them to present their sources, … Continue reading

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4 meaningless words: toxin, natural, organic, and GMO

News articles and blog posts are often full of buzzwords that are heavy on emotional impact but light on substance, and for scientific topics such as nutrition, health, medicine, and agriculture, four of the most common buzzwords are “toxins,” “natural,” … Continue reading

Posted in GMO, Rules of Logic | Tagged , | 73 Comments

The nirvana fallacy: An imperfect solution is often better than no solution

In this post, I want to briefly explain and discuss a logical blunder known commonly as the “nirvana fallacy.” This fallacy occurs when you suggest either that a solution should not be used because it is imperfect or that a … Continue reading

Posted in Global Warming, GMO, Rules of Logic, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments