FALLACY

Hasty generalisation
Reaching a conclusion from one event aka jumping the gun

Sweeping generalisation
Reaching a conclusion from one rule

Sweeping or hasty?

Hasty - applying a SPECIFIC rule to a GENERAL situation

Sweeping - applying A GENERAL rule to a SPECIFIC instance

I talked to a few kids in school who said school sucks. Therefore, school sucks.

I went to England and was really excited about experiencing their culture. I was disappointed to be served soda by my friend.

My dad smoked all his life. He did not get cancer. Smoking is not bad.

I think I won't accept the job at Office Depot. My boss would be a woman, and at my last job my boss was a woman, and she was the worst boss I've ever had.

IT'S NOT THE SAME

HSG; SGS; MSG

You get what you pay for. Therefore, it is better to spend $200 on that T-shirt at the boutique shop than buy the same one at Marshall's for $29.

The $29 shirt is at Marshall's is a great deal, therefore, everything at Marshall's is a great deal.

False analogy
Misleading people with inappropriate or inaccurate comparisons

Soap is like a dream. It lifts you up to a spiritual place.

Employees are like nails. Just as nails, they must be hit in the head in order to make them work.

Mud and rivers can both be broad. It is known that the broader the river, the shallower it is. Therefore, it must be true that the broader the mind, the shallower it is.

False analogy can also
assume that if A and B have one common characteristic, they would share other characteristics

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Students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during examinations. After all, surgeons have X-Rays to guide the during an operation; lawyers have briefs to guide them during a trial; carpenters have blueprints to guide them when they are building a house .

SIMILARLY ON SESME STREET

• A has features W, X, Y and Z.
• B has features W, X, Y and Z.
• C has features W, X, Y and Z.
• D has features W, X, and Y.
• D also has feature Z.

The Negative
If A and B share X, then if A does not have Y, then it is true of B as well.

Bill Clinton has no experience of serving in the military. To have Bill Clinton become president, and thus commander in chief for the armed forces of the United States, is like electing some passer-by to fly the space shuttle.

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