Many events are usually present in this fallacy, but only two are actually required - usually connected by "the next thing you know." This is a fine point, however, and is generally ignored in common usage.Īlso known as absurd extrapolation, thin edge of the wedge, camel's nose, domino fallacy)ĭefinition: When a relatively insignificant first event is suggested to lead to a more significant event, which in turn leads to a more significant event, and so on, until some ultimate, significant event is reached, where the connection of each event is not only unwarranted, but with each step it becomes more and more improbable. * Staying true to the definitions, the false dilemma is different from the false dichotomy in that a dilemma implies two equally unattractive options whereas a dichotomy generally comprises two opposites. Tip: Be conscious of how many times you are presented with false dilemmas, and how many times you present yourself with false dilemmas. Here, read Bo's book and you will see why.īilly: This is freaky, our exact conversation is used as an example in this book!
Mom: You can either go to bed or stay up for another 30 minutes and read. It is also not a fallacy if other options exist, but you are not offering other options as a possibility. For example, if an ice cream man just has chocolate and vanilla left, it would be a waste of time insisting he has mint chocolate chip. Of course, good people exist who don't go to church, and good church-going people could have had a really good reason not to be in church - like a hangover from the swingers' gathering the night before.Įxception: There may be cases when the number of options really is limited.
I thought you were a good person, but you weren't at church today.Įxplanation: The assumption here is that bad people don't go to church. Another variety is the false trilemma, which is when three choices are presented when more exist.Įxplanation: As Obi Wan Kenobi so eloquently puts it in Star Wars episode III, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes!" There are also those who simply don't believe there is a God to be either with or against. False dilemmas are usually characterized by "either this or that" language, but can also be characterized by omissions of choices. (also known as: false dichotomy*, the either-or fallacy, either-or reasoning, fallacy of false choice, fallacy of false alternatives, black-and-white thinking, the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses, bifurcation, excluded middle, no middle ground, polarization)ĭescription: When only two choices are presented yet more exist, or a spectrum of possible choices exists between two extremes.
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