Tag Archives: evaluating evidence

The genetic fallacy: When is it okay to criticize a source?

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Fallacy Man

Last week, I wrote a post on the hierarchy of scientific evidence which included the figure to the right. In that post, I explained why some types of scientific papers produced more robust results than others. Some people, however, took … Continue reading →

Posted in Rules of Logic | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

The hierarchy of evidence: Is the study’s design robust?

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Fallacy Man

People are extraordinarily prone to confirmation biases. We have a strong tendency to latch onto anything that supports our position and blindly ignore anything that doesn’t. This is especially true when it comes to scientific topics. People love to think … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Do we need more studies on vaccines, GMOs, climate change, etc.?

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Fallacy Man

I frequently encounter people who state that, “I’m not anti-vaccine/GMO, I just think that we need more studies” or “we need more research before we take major action on climate change.” I have, however, noticed that whenever someone declares, “I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Warming, GMO, Vaccines/Alternative Medicine | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

What movie theories teach us about science vs. pseudoscience

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Fallacy Man

Movie theories are lots of fun. I thoroughly enjoy to contemplating and debating novel ideas like the notion that all Pixar movies are connected or that the Joker was actually the hero of Dark Knight, but in addition to being … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

12 bad reasons for rejecting scientific studies

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Fallacy Man

A few days ago, I posted what I thought was a fairly innocuous image (right) onto my blog’s Facebook page. I was, however, sadly mistaken. My page was quickly flooded with comments by people who arrogantly insisted that there was … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature of Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments