The Logical Fallacy Field Guide

Attacks and distractions

• •Ad hominem: attacking the person instead of their argument. Example: “You can’t trust her economics take, she’s barely passing math.”
• •Straw man: swapping someone’s argument for a weaker one, then beating that. Example: “You want later start times, so you basically want kids to do nothing all day.”
• •Red herring: changing the subject to dodge the point. Example: “Why worry about our budget when there are bigger problems in the world?”
• •Whataboutism: answering a criticism by pointing at someone else’s fault. Example: “Our team fouled, sure, but what about their fouls last game?”

Broken logic

• •Slippery slope: claiming one small step must lead to disaster. Example: “If we allow one retake, soon no one will study at all.”
• •False dilemma: pretending there are only two options. Example: “Either we ban phones entirely, or grades collapse.”
• •Circular reasoning: using the claim to prove itself. Example: “This app is the best because nothing else is as good.”
• •Hasty generalization: a big conclusion from one or two cases. Example: “My two friends hated the book, so it must be terrible.”

Emotion and the crowd

• •Appeal to emotion: using feelings in place of a reason. Example: “Think how sad the mascot would be if we cut the team.”
• •Bandwagon: it must be right because everyone believes it. Example: “Everyone’s switching to this diet, so it works.”
• •False authority: citing someone famous who is not an expert here. Example: “A movie star says this supplement cures colds.”
• •Appeal to tradition: it is right because we have always done it. Example: “We have always run the fundraiser this way, so we should not change it.”

How to call it out

When you spot one in a debate, three quick moves handle it:

• 1.Name it plainly: “That’s a straw man.”
• 2.Explain why it does not prove the point: “You changed my argument into a weaker one.”
• 3.Steer back to the real question: “My actual claim was that later start times help sleep.”

Spot the fallacy

Name the fallacy in each, then check yourself.

• •“You can’t trust his climate stance, he drives a big truck.”: ad hominem, plus whataboutism.
• •“If we start school later, kids will just stay up even later.”: slippery slope.
• •“Either you support the new rule or you don’t care about safety.”: false dilemma.
• •“Everyone in class is doing the extra credit, so it must be worth it.”: bandwagon.
• •“A pro gamer endorsed this energy drink, so it must boost focus.”: false authority.

Use it well

• •Steelman first. Restate their argument at its strongest before you challenge it.
• •Do not fallacy-hunt to score points. One clean call beats five nitpicks.
• •A fallacy means the reasoning is weak, not that the conclusion is false. Beat the logic, then make your own case.