Tag Archives: appeal to authority fallacies

Most scientific studies are wrong, but that doesn’t mean what you think it means

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Fallacy Man

When faced with scientific studies that disagree with them, many people are prone to claim that they don’t have to accept those studies because most scientific studies are actually wrong. They generally try to support this claim by either citing … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

100 bad arguments against vaccines

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Fallacy Man

From time to time, I get directed to an article titled “One Hundred Arguments Against Vaccines” which was written by Natural Health Warriors and is nothing more than a Gish Gallop of anti-vaccine tropes. I have been loath to address … Continue reading →

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Settled science part 2: Creating the illusion of a debate

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Fallacy Man

In the previous post, I explained what we mean by “settled science” and why there often aren’t two legitimate sides to a story. Nevertheless, despite a massive scientific consensus on issues like climate change, there is still widespread disagreement among … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

The Rules of Logic Part 6: Appealing to Authority vs. Deferring to Experts

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Fallacy Man

The appeal to authority fallacy (a.k.a. argument from authority) is easily one of the most common logical fallacies. This is the fallacy that occurs when you base your claim on the people who agree with you rather than on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Rules of Logic | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Rules of Logic Part 3: Logical Fallacies

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Fallacy Man

Perhaps the most common mistake that people make in debates is the use of logical fallacies. This occurs largely because people generally are not taught logical fallacies, and, therefore, don’t recognize them when they use or see them. Knowing logical … Continue reading →

Posted in Rules of Logic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments