Tag Archives: Bad arguments

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

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Fallacy Man

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

Understanding grants in science: doing research without selling your soul

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Fallacy Man

Last week was a good week for me, because I received a several thousand dollar grant for my research, so I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about exactly what that means. Many people seem to be under … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Global warming isn’t natural, and here’s how we know

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Fallacy Man

The cornerstone argument of climate change deniers is that our current warming is just a natural cycle, and this claim is usually accompanied by the statement, “the planet has warmed naturally before.” This line of reasoning is, however, seriously flawed … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Even if medical errors were the 3rd leading cause of death, that wouldn’t be as bad as it sounds

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Fallacy Man

There has recently been a lot of hype over a “new” study claiming that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US (this was really just a rehash of previous studies). Dr. Gorski has already done … Continue reading →

Posted in Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

When is it reasonable to demand more studies?

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Fallacy Man

I recently wrote a post in which I reviewed the scientific literature on vaccines and autism, and the responses from the anti-vaccine crowd were predictable. The most common of these responses followed the basic format of, “but it could be … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments