Fallacy
noun
A wrong belief or idea that people accept as true.
It is a fallacy to believe that all wealthy people are happy.
Often appears as...
- common fallacy
- logical fallacy
noun
A mistake in reasoning or logic.
Her argument is based on a fallacy of the cause and effect relationship.
Often appears as...
- logical fallacy
- argument fallacy
Usage tips
Academic
noun
A misleading or false belief.
He detected a fundamental fallacy in her philosophical theories.
Often appears as...
- philosophical fallacy
- fundamental fallacy
Usage tips
Academic
noun
A wrong belief or idea that people accept as true.
It is a fallacy to believe that all wealthy people are happy.
Often appears as...
- common fallacy
- logical fallacy
noun
A mistake in reasoning or logic.
Her argument is based on a fallacy of the cause and effect relationship.
Often appears as...
- logical fallacy
- argument fallacy
Usage tips
Academic
noun
A misleading or false belief.
He detected a fundamental fallacy in her philosophical theories.
Often appears as...
- philosophical fallacy
- fundamental fallacy
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Not Always True
Remember, a 'fallacy' often seems believable at first glance but is incorrect.
Saying 'It must be true because everyone believes it' is a fallacy.
Pro Tip 2/3Beyond Logic
'Fallacy' isn't limited to logical errors, but any incorrect belief.
Thinking spiders are insects is a common fallacy.
Pro Tip 3/3Evaluate Ideas
Use 'fallacy' to encourage questioning commonly held beliefs.
It's a fallacy that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Pro Tip 1/3Not Always True
Remember, a 'fallacy' often seems believable at first glance but is incorrect.
Saying 'It must be true because everyone believes it' is a fallacy.
Pro Tip 2/3Beyond Logic
'Fallacy' isn't limited to logical errors, but any incorrect belief.
Thinking spiders are insects is a common fallacy.
Pro Tip 3/3Evaluate Ideas
Use 'fallacy' to encourage questioning commonly held beliefs.
It's a fallacy that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Pro Tip 1/3Not Always True
Remember, a 'fallacy' often seems believable at first glance but is incorrect.
Saying 'It must be true because everyone believes it' is a fallacy.
Pro Tip 2/3Beyond Logic
'Fallacy' isn't limited to logical errors, but any incorrect belief.
Thinking spiders are insects is a common fallacy.
Pro Tip 3/3Evaluate Ideas
Use 'fallacy' to encourage questioning commonly held beliefs.
It's a fallacy that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
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Video examples
Can you outsmart this...
This effect has been observed across multiple studies, including ones with participants who understood statistics well– from students betting on sequences of dice rolls, to foreign policy experts predicting the likelihood of a diplomatic crisis. The conjunction fallacy isn’t just a problem in hypothetical situations.
Video examples
3 myths about the future...
Now the third myth, what I call the superiority myth. It's often said that those who forget about the helpful side of technological progress, those complementarities from before, are committing something known as the lump of labor fallacy. Now, the problem is the lump of labor fallacy
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 69 PIPE...
cat gets hungry enough it knows how to hunt those instincts are there there have been there for hundreds of thousands of years they don't need to be taught anything and as I said it would be the same as trying to teach us hard to breathe it is a it is a complete fallacy that you need
Video examples
40 Years Later, A Family...
you are I think that's a real fallacy though there's certain kinds of ways we grow during those first 30 years that are different from the ways that we grow in later years but I don't think that ever stops in life I don't think it ever stops in life you know not everyone can
Video examples
Jason Silva on...
things at once is a fallacy the only thing you can hope to do is switch rapidly between tasks but the result ultimately is causing you even more fatigue and a feeling of being fragmented where you don't really know where to place your attention the truth
Video examples
Ben Cameron: The true...
to have empathy, to articulate change, to motivate others -- the very capacities that the arts cultivate with every encounter. Especially now, as we all must confront the fallacy of a market-only orientation, uninformed by social conscience;
Video examples
Can you outsmart the...
one of which is morally indefensible, is also morally indefensible, has helped to perpetuate countless injustices large and small. Even well-intentioned people— which rest assured, I don’t mistake you for— fall prey to this fallacy,
Video examples
The true power of the...
ability to listen deeply to have empathy to articulate change to motivate others the very capacities that the arts cultivate with every encounter especially now as we all must confront the fallacy of a market only orientation
Video examples
The psychology behind...
rather than careful analysis. And these mental shortcuts can lead to irrational decisions, not like falling in love or bungee jumping off a cliff, but logical fallacies that can easily be proven wrong.
Video examples
Can you outsmart the...
That’s better. Now, Meigs, your argument is based on a fallacy— the false cause fallacy. Correlation does not imply When two phenomena regularly occur together,
Video examples
Can you outsmart this...
This effect has been observed across multiple studies, including ones with participants who understood statistics well– from students betting on sequences of dice rolls, to foreign policy experts predicting the likelihood of a diplomatic crisis. The conjunction fallacy isn’t just a problem in hypothetical situations.
Video examples
3 myths about the future...
Now the third myth, what I call the superiority myth. It's often said that those who forget about the helpful side of technological progress, those complementarities from before, are committing something known as the lump of labor fallacy. Now, the problem is the lump of labor fallacy
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 69 PIPE...
cat gets hungry enough it knows how to hunt those instincts are there there have been there for hundreds of thousands of years they don't need to be taught anything and as I said it would be the same as trying to teach us hard to breathe it is a it is a complete fallacy that you need
Video examples
40 Years Later, A Family...
you are I think that's a real fallacy though there's certain kinds of ways we grow during those first 30 years that are different from the ways that we grow in later years but I don't think that ever stops in life I don't think it ever stops in life you know not everyone can
Video examples
Jason Silva on...
things at once is a fallacy the only thing you can hope to do is switch rapidly between tasks but the result ultimately is causing you even more fatigue and a feeling of being fragmented where you don't really know where to place your attention the truth
Video examples
Ben Cameron: The true...
to have empathy, to articulate change, to motivate others -- the very capacities that the arts cultivate with every encounter. Especially now, as we all must confront the fallacy of a market-only orientation, uninformed by social conscience;
Video examples
Can you outsmart the...
one of which is morally indefensible, is also morally indefensible, has helped to perpetuate countless injustices large and small. Even well-intentioned people— which rest assured, I don’t mistake you for— fall prey to this fallacy,
Video examples
The true power of the...
ability to listen deeply to have empathy to articulate change to motivate others the very capacities that the arts cultivate with every encounter especially now as we all must confront the fallacy of a market only orientation
Video examples
The psychology behind...
rather than careful analysis. And these mental shortcuts can lead to irrational decisions, not like falling in love or bungee jumping off a cliff, but logical fallacies that can easily be proven wrong.
Video examples
Can you outsmart the...
That’s better. Now, Meigs, your argument is based on a fallacy— the false cause fallacy. Correlation does not imply When two phenomena regularly occur together,
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Mikhail Varshavski
American Celebrity
I was not a person who you would find on social media traditionally, but when I was introduced to Instagram, I saw it as a way to show other medical students on their journey that you don't have to give up your life to study medicine. The stigma that you can't have a life in medical school was a fallacy, and I was the living proof of that.
Quote examples
Andrew O'Hagan
Scottish Novelist
There's a horrible fallacy that exists in the popular discussion of fiction these days: the idea that a successful central character need be 'likeable' or 'sympathetic'. It is surely more important that they be human, no? More crucial that they breathe?
Quote examples
Chuck Palahniuk
American Novelist
I live by fallacy. 'If I get enough nice Ikea furniture, I'll be a grown-up.' Then I catch myself. Or, 'If I get off by myself, away from the stress of modern life, I'll be OK.' Then I catch myself.
Quote examples
Valerie Faris
American Director
The American dream tells you that you'll have success if you work hard enough, and we have some concerns about that fallacy. Hopefully, the characters in our films learn to redefine success.
Quote examples
William Lyon Phelps
American Educator
The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.
Quote examples
John Ruskin
English Writer
All violent feelings have the same effect. They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the pathetic fallacy.
Quote examples
Benito Mussolini
Italian Politician
Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy.
Quote examples
Harold Washington
American Politician
The third fallacy is that affirmative action doesn't work.
Quote examples
Rajkumar Hirani
Indian Director
Assuming audiences to be dumb, that's a big fallacy.
Quote examples
Ken Cuccinelli
American Politician
Every liberal position is built on a fallacy.
Quote examples
Mikhail Varshavski
American Celebrity
I was not a person who you would find on social media traditionally, but when I was introduced to Instagram, I saw it as a way to show other medical students on their journey that you don't have to give up your life to study medicine. The stigma that you can't have a life in medical school was a fallacy, and I was the living proof of that.
Quote examples
Andrew O'Hagan
Scottish Novelist
There's a horrible fallacy that exists in the popular discussion of fiction these days: the idea that a successful central character need be 'likeable' or 'sympathetic'. It is surely more important that they be human, no? More crucial that they breathe?
Quote examples
Chuck Palahniuk
American Novelist
I live by fallacy. 'If I get enough nice Ikea furniture, I'll be a grown-up.' Then I catch myself. Or, 'If I get off by myself, away from the stress of modern life, I'll be OK.' Then I catch myself.
Quote examples
Valerie Faris
American Director
The American dream tells you that you'll have success if you work hard enough, and we have some concerns about that fallacy. Hopefully, the characters in our films learn to redefine success.
Quote examples
William Lyon Phelps
American Educator
The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.
Quote examples
John Ruskin
English Writer
All violent feelings have the same effect. They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the pathetic fallacy.
Quote examples
Benito Mussolini
Italian Politician
Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy.
Quote examples
Harold Washington
American Politician
The third fallacy is that affirmative action doesn't work.
Quote examples
Rajkumar Hirani
Indian Director
Assuming audiences to be dumb, that's a big fallacy.
Quote examples
Ken Cuccinelli
American Politician
Every liberal position is built on a fallacy.
Example 1 of 10
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