CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Anecdotal evidence - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z737Cpv6Q4WZCm0ABXe3PwAAAII","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Anecdotal_evidence","wgTitle":"Anecdotal evidence","wgCurRevisionId":2658810,"wgRevisionId":2658810,"wgArticleId":8149,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Pages using DynamicPageList parser function","Logic","Fallacies","Imprecision fallacies","Language","Pseudoscience","Rhetoric"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Anecdotal_evidence","wgRelevantArticleId":8149,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0, "wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="Anecdotal evidence (also proof by selected instances, or, more pejoratively, anecdata) is use of one or more anecdotes (specific instances of an event; stories) to either support or refute a claim. The use of anecdotal evidence to draw a conclusion is like using the NBA all-star teams to estimate the average height of Americans."/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Anecdotal evidence"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Anecdotal evidence (also proof by selected instances, or, more pejoratively, anecdata) is use of one or more anecdotes (specific instances of an event; stories) to either support or refute a claim. The use of anecdotal evidence to draw a conclusion is like using the NBA all-star teams to estimate the average height of Americans."/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Anecdotal_evidence rootpage-Anecdotal_evidence skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="2025_RationalWiki_.27Oregon_Plan.27_Fundraiser"> <table role="presentation" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 60%; text-align: left;"><big><center><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser</a></b></center></big> <p><b>There is no RationalWiki without you.</b> We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity</a>. </p> </td> <td style="width: 40%; text-align: center;"><big><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">Fighting pseudoscience isn't free</a>.<br />We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with <img alt="PayPal Logo.png" src="/w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/61px-PayPal_Logo.png" decoding="async" width="61" height="17" srcset="/w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/92px-PayPal_Logo.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/f/fb/PayPal_Logo.png/122px-PayPal_Logo.png 2x" data-file-width="883" data-file-height="244" />!</b></big><a href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=67BJMQC85CUFW" title="Donate via PayPal" rel="nofollow"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/100px-DonateButton.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="32" srcset="/w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/150px-DonateButton.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/1/10/DonateButton.png/200px-DonateButton.png 2x" data-file-width="759" data-file-height="241" /></a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div role="progressbar" style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid black; position: relative; padding: 2px; border-radius: 18px;"> <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser"><span style="text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, -1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF; color: black; font-size: 125%; position: absolute; left: 0%; margin: 0 0 0 10px"><b>Donations so far: $2973.89</b></span></a><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser"><span style="text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px -1px 0 #FFFFFF, -1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF, 1px 1px 0 #FFFFFF; color: black; font-size: 125%; position: absolute; right: 0%; margin: 0 10px 0 0"><b>Goal: $10000</b></span></a><div style="height: 28px; border-radius: 14px; background-color: hsl(23.79112,100%,45%); width: 29.7389%;"></div> </div></div></div></div> <div class="mw-indicators mw-body-content"> </div> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading" lang="en">Anecdotal evidence</h1> <div id="bodyContent" class="mw-body-content"> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From RationalWiki</div> <div id="contentSub"></div> <div id="contentSub2"></div> <div id="jump-to-nav"></div> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#mw-head">Jump to navigation</a> <a class="mw-jump-link" href="#searchInput">Jump to search</a> <div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><div class="mw-parser-output"><table class="infobox" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #009761; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#009761"><b>Cogito ergo sum</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Logic and rhetoric</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Logic" title="Category:Logic"><img alt="Icon logic.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/9/99/Icon_logic.svg/100px-Icon_logic.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/9/99/Icon_logic.svg/150px-Icon_logic.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/9/99/Icon_logic.svg/200px-Icon_logic.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#009761; text-align:center;"><b>Key articles</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Logical_fallacy" title="Logical fallacy">Logical fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syllogism" title="Syllogism">Syllogism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Argument" title="Argument">Argument</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#009761; text-align:center;"><b>General logic</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Argument_from_authority" title="Argument from authority">Argument from authority</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proof" title="Proof">Proof</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spider-Man_fallacy" title="Spider-Man fallacy">Spider-Man fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Formal_fallacy" title="Formal fallacy">Formal fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nazi_analogies" title="Nazi analogies">Nazi analogies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Regression_to_the_mean" title="Regression to the mean">Regression to the mean</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#009761; text-align:center;"><b>Bad logic</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Quote_mining" title="Quote mining">Quote mining</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Not_as_bad_as" title="Not as bad as">Not as bad as</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lying_by_omission" title="Lying by omission">Lying by omission</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_fallacy" title="Genetic fallacy">Genetic fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Four-term_fallacy" title="Four-term fallacy">Four-term fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gambler%27s_fallacy" title="Gambler's fallacy">Gambler's fallacy</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Logicnav" title="Template:Logicnav">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Logicnav" title="Template talk:Logicnav">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Logicnav&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Anecdotal_Evidence.gif" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/a/a0/Anecdotal_Evidence.gif/300px-Anecdotal_Evidence.gif" decoding="async" width="300" height="306" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/a/a0/Anecdotal_Evidence.gif/450px-Anecdotal_Evidence.gif 1.5x, /w/images/a/a0/Anecdotal_Evidence.gif 2x" data-file-width="540" data-file-height="551" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Anecdotal_Evidence.gif" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Also known as the meta-anecdote. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2159">Source</a>)</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>[<a href="/wiki/Bloodletting" title="Bloodletting">Bloodletting</a>] removes coma. Mr. Henry Clymer was suddenly relieved of this alarming symptom, in the fever of 1794, by the loss of twelve ounces of blood.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Rush" title="Benjamin Rush">Benjamin Rush</a>, <i>A Defense of Blood-letting</i><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Anecdotal evidence</b> (also <b>proof by <a href="/wiki/Cherry_picking" title="Cherry picking">selected instances</a></b>, or, more pejoratively, <b>anecdata</b>) is use of one or more anecdotes (specific instances of an event; stories) to either support or refute a claim. The use of anecdotal evidence to draw a conclusion is like using the NBA all-star teams to estimate the average height of <a href="/wiki/American" class="mw-redirect" title="American">Americans</a>. </p><p>Whereas anecdotal evidence is sometimes the <i>starting point</i> of a proper scientific investigation, it is all too often the ending point and every point of a pseudoscientific investigation. In the world of <a href="/wiki/Pseudoscience" title="Pseudoscience">pseudoscience</a>, an anecdote is treated as the equivalent of a <a href="/wiki/Peer-review" class="mw-redirect" title="Peer-review">peer-reviewed</a>, <a href="/wiki/Double-blind" class="mw-redirect" title="Double-blind">double-blind</a>, repeatable <a href="/wiki/Scientific" class="mw-redirect" title="Scientific">scientific</a> experiment with consistent results. </p><p>Anecdotal evidence is often used in <a href="/wiki/Politics" title="Politics">politics</a>, <a href="/wiki/Journalism" title="Journalism">journalism</a>, blogs, and many other contexts to make or imply generalisations based on very limited and <a href="/wiki/Cherry-picking" class="mw-redirect" title="Cherry-picking">cherry-picked</a> examples, rather than reliable statistical studies. A classic instance was <a href="/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>'s story of a "<a href="/wiki/Welfare_queen" title="Welfare queen">welfare queen</a>" who was abusing the system, who Reagan attempted to portray as <a href="/wiki/Stereotype" title="Stereotype">indicative of the average welfare recipient</a>. It turned out she <i>didn't even exist</i> when some reporters finally decided to look for her (even if she had, this would not actually prove anything about welfare recipients generally). </p><p>Anecdotal evidence is especially vulnerable to <a href="/wiki/Confabulation" title="Confabulation">confabulation</a> or outright <a href="/wiki/Deceit" title="Deceit">deceit</a>. </p><p>Remember: the plural of "anecdote" is <i>not</i> "data".<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[note 1]</a></sup> </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Form"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Form</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Legitimate_use"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Legitimate use</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Problems"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Problems</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#Regression_to_the_mean"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Regression to the mean</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#Adulteration"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Adulteration</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Improbability"><span class="tocnumber">2.3</span> <span class="toctext">Improbability</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Selection_bias"><span class="tocnumber">2.4</span> <span class="toctext">Selection bias</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#Incompleteness_and_lack_of_follow-up"><span class="tocnumber">2.5</span> <span class="toctext">Incompleteness and lack of follow-up</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="#Advantages_of_anecdotal_evidence"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Advantages of anecdotal evidence</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="#The_power_of_anecdotes"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">The power of anecdotes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Form">Form</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Form">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <dl><dd><b>P1:</b> X happened once when Y.<br /></dd> <dd><b>P2:</b> (<i><a href="/wiki/Enthymeme" title="Enthymeme">unstated</a></i>) Things that happen once will happen every time.<br /></dd> <dd><b>C:</b> X happens every time when Y.<br /></dd></dl> <p>For example, "Billy-Bob ate 3 pounds of apples a day for a year and his cancer disappeared – so can you!" </p><p>It should be clear that P2 is invalid. Take the following syllogism: </p><p><br /> </p> <dl><dd><b>P1:</b> Abby choked once when she ate some <a href="/wiki/Goat" title="Goat">goat</a>.<br /></dd> <dd><b>P2:</b> (<i>unstated</i>) Things that happen once will happen every time.<br /></dd> <dd><b>C:</b> Everyone will choke when they eat goat.<br /></dd></dl> <p>Consume that goat, and face the wrath of the Goat Overlord! </p><p>Another form: </p><p><br /> </p> <dl><dd><b>P1:</b> Horatio started drinking orange juice after being diagnosed with cancer and then his cancer went into remission.<br /></dd> <dd><b>P2:</b> (<i><a href="/wiki/Enthymeme" title="Enthymeme">unstated</a></i>) There is no other plausible explanation for Horatio's cancer going into remission than the OJ.<br /></dd> <dd><b>C:</b> Orange juice can cure cancer.<br /></dd></dl> <p>It's clear from the above that fallacies like <a href="/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc" class="mw-redirect" title="Post hoc ergo propter hoc">post hoc ergo propter hoc</a> and <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity" title="Argument from incredulity">argument from incredulity</a> can play supporting roles in the perception of anecdotes as convincing. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Legitimate_use">Legitimate use</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Legitimate use">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>In two instances, it is possible to use anecdotes non-fallaciously: </p> <ul><li>If you use one or more anecdotes to refute the claim that there are <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_omniscience" title="Argument from omniscience">no instances of the event that the anecdote describes</a>. This is not fallacious because one counterexample is all it takes to prove a universal rule false, or an existential rule true.</li></ul> <ul><li>If you use one or more anecdotes as an <i>example</i> of a general rule which is <i>already supported</i> by a broad, comprehensive investigation (i.e., your evidence/argument does not <i>rely</i> on the anecdotes, they are just used to <i>illustrate</i> the point).</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Problems">Problems</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Problems">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>If you are basing your claims on anecdotal experience, then any treatment will seem to work for <a href="/wiki/Panacea" title="Panacea">anything and everything</a>.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<a href="/wiki/Steven_Novella" title="Steven Novella">Steven Novella</a>, <i>The <a href="/wiki/CAM" class="mw-redirect" title="CAM">CAM</a> Worldview</i><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[2]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>While anecdotes — when believed to be true, at least — are nice illustrative stories, they do not constitute good repeatable scientific <a href="/wiki/Evidence" title="Evidence">evidence</a>. This is because anecdotes only ever apply to individuals or individual experiences and are subject to the <a href="/wiki/Bias" class="mw-redirect" title="Bias">biases</a> that this brings with it. Even without bias, the small scope of an anecdote means that it cannot be generalized to a larger group, due to variations between, say, the physiology of individual humans (and of individual pathogens), the structural integrity of rocks, or whatever the anecdote is about meaning that what works to cure an illness in one person or shatter one stone may or may not work to cure the same illness in another person or to shatter another stone of the same kind. And even if those differences <i>could</i> be accounted for, that still leaves the <i>circumstances</i> of an anecdote unaccounted for; the influence of environmental factors on a given procedure's result should not be overlooked. Anecdotes also tend to begin when a problem is first noticed, without any awareness of how long it may have been festering quietly without being observed;<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[note 2]</a></sup> thus, the root cause of the problem is often unaccounted for. For all of these reasons and more, it is impossible to say that an individual anecdote is representative, and it is also impossible to actually detect the real cause of the anecdote. </p><p>For instance, with life-saving <a href="/wiki/Medical" class="mw-redirect" title="Medical">medical</a> treatments (say, pills that reduce heart disease and subsequently lower the death rate), there are some deaths that occur whether or not the medication was taken (and not all of these deaths are even caused by heart disease). Therefore, if someone who is on the medication dies, you cannot tell if they would have died <i>anyway</i> without it — you can't prove that the medical intervention worked, or not, from the one case study. </p><p>It is very rare for an intervention to be, by itself, a <i>sufficient</i> cause of something. Rather, they tend to change the <i>probability</i> of a given event occurring. This means, obviously, that one can cherry pick examples that show something does or does not work, regardless of what effect it actually has. For instance, if the municipal government of some city enacts a law to reduce <a href="/wiki/Crime" title="Crime">crime</a>, one can find anecdotes "demonstrating" the exact opposite of the law's actual effect, whatever it may be. If it's effective: "Before the law I never had any problems with crime, but <a href="/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc" class="mw-redirect" title="Post hoc ergo propter hoc">since its enactment</a> I've been mugged once and had my house burglarized! This law is useless!" If it's not: "Before the law, I was robbed twice, but ever since the law, I haven't been robbed once! It must be working!" </p><p>Ultimately, anecdotal evidence is very prone to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/false_positive" class="extiw" title="wp:false positive" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: false positive">false positive</span>s</a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (and is also prone to false negatives). </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Regression_to_the_mean">Regression to the mean</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Regression to the mean">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Regression_to_the_mean" title="Regression to the mean">Regression to the mean</a></div> <p>If someone with a rash gets better after taking a <a href="/wiki/Homeopathic" class="mw-redirect" title="Homeopathic">homeopathic</a> remedy, that doesn't mean the remedy caused the improvement, as it could simply have been an <a href="/wiki/Improbable_things_happen" title="Improbable things happen">exception to the rule</a>. Maybe it would have gotten better anyway — for example, it could have just been an allergic reaction, or a sweat-rash or anything along those effects. The anecdote doesn't tell you anything about all the people who did not get better; many other people with rashes could have taken homeopathic remedies to no effect.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[note 3]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Adulteration">Adulteration</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Adulteration">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Not to mention that these remedies can contain actual active substances, which are misleadingly listed under "non-medicinal ingredients". A "homeopathic" anti-acne cream may contain <a href="/wiki/List_of_medicinal_plants#T" title="List of medicinal plants">tea tree oil</a>, which is an effective antifungal. </p><p>In addition, some people selling alternative medicines sometimes adulterate them with drugs in order to give them the desired medicinal effect and thus generate return customers. For instance, a "herbal" cold remedy may be adulterated with paracetamol and antihistamines.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[3]</a></sup> In these sorts of cases, the improvements may very well be caused by the drugs rather than the herbs. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Improbability">Improbability</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Improbability">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>There are also anecdotes in which a person suffered from a disease for many years, and no conventional treatment was able to cure them, but they improved after applying some alternative remedy for a few days/weeks/months. For instance: </p> <blockquote class="letter" style="width:auto; background:#f8f8ff; border:1px solid #C9C9CF;"> <p>I having ministered [tobacco] to many people as well men as women, in great number, and being grieved of ten, and of twenty years they have healed old rotten sores in legs, and other parts of the body, with only this remedy to the great admiration of all men.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[4]</a></sup> </p> </blockquote> <p>The implication is that the improvement cannot <i>possibly</i> have been a <a href="/wiki/Coincidence" title="Coincidence">coincidence</a>, because it was so unlikely. Of course, since <i>millions</i> of people use alternative medicines <i>every day</i>, such coincidences are certain to happen all the time to many people, even if the odds of it happening in one specific instance are low. The odds of a particular person winning the <a href="/wiki/Lottery" class="mw-redirect" title="Lottery">lottery</a> are extremely low, but somebody always does, regardless. Not to mention that most people get sick many times in the course of their life, and the number of such events may number in the thousands or even tens of thousands, if one includes such mundane things as pain, cuts, nausea, or blemishes. Some improbable coincidence <a href="/wiki/Littlewood%27s_law" title="Littlewood's law">is bound to happen</a> during at least one, if not several, of these many illnesses. It is worth also considering a practitioner's situation. Over the course of her career, she will see countless thousands of patients. Even if her treatments are effective, many of her patients' recoveries (and possible website testimonials) will be unrelated to her treatments, and the large number of cases almost certainly means that some of these coincidental recoveries will be extremely unlikely. </p><p>While "case studies" exist within medicine that are essentially anecdotal, these are treated mostly as curiosities or communications between doctors, rather than hard evidence on par with real trials. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Selection_bias">Selection bias</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Selection bias">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Selection_bias" title="Selection bias">Selection bias</a></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Selective_reporting" title="Selective reporting">Selective reporting</a> is the main reason that popularly disseminated anecdotes will be almost certainly unrepresentative. People tend to focus on the interesting, the unusual, or the powerfully emotive events while ignoring the mundane. After all, no one ever sold a newspaper where the front-page headline read "girl receives new <a href="/wiki/Vaccine" title="Vaccine">vaccine</a>; suffers zero complications and is now alive and well". People who believe in alternative medicine may, due to <a href="/wiki/Confirmation_bias" title="Confirmation bias">confirmation bias</a>, selectively remember stories that support their belief (which they will, of course, tell everybody about), and ignore those that don't. </p><p>Selection bias can have an impressive effect in terms of <a href="/wiki/Public_relations" title="Public relations">PR</a>. Let's assume 1 million people (1,000,000) decide to take some ineffective remedy to cure their <a href="/wiki/Cancer" title="Cancer">cancer</a>. Let's further assume (for the sake of argument) that only 0.1% of this million will experience <a href="/wiki/Spontaneous_remission" title="Spontaneous remission">spontaneous remission</a> (the actual remission rate, for breast cancer and basal cell carcinoma at least, is closer to 20%<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[5]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[6]</a></sup>), and that 0.3% were <a href="/wiki/Misdiagnosis" class="mw-redirect" title="Misdiagnosis">misdiagnosed</a> and so do not actually have cancer. This makes for a total of 0.4%, or 4000 people. Now, 4000 people translates into a lot of testimonials, "CAM cured my cancer" blogs, Internet comments, newspaper articles, and real-life word-of-mouth, so this makes an extremely positive impression for the therapy. But the other 99.6% <a href="/wiki/Survivorship_bias" title="Survivorship bias">died and so are not around to leave any testimonials,</a> positive or otherwise. Thus, even in a hypothetical scenario that assumes statistically very low false positive rates, the quantity of false positives is nevertheless numerically quite large. In reality, the number of past and present cancer patients relying on alternative medicine is much larger than one million, and the false positive rate is significantly higher than 0.4%, making the possibility of a given supposedly successful "cancer cure" anecdote being a coincidence even more likely. </p><p>Even if a given treatment were effective, anecdotal evidence would still be useless, because many of the cases would be the result of natural improvement, and it would be impossible to tell which anecdotes are cures and which ones are flukes. There is no way to separate the signal from the noise with only single data points suffering from selection bias. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Incompleteness_and_lack_of_follow-up">Incompleteness and lack of follow-up</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Incompleteness and lack of follow-up">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Another issue arises: anecdotes are usually not complete — they do not necessarily tell the full story. They often cover only the period of the improvement, and anything happening after the punchline or after the publication of the anecdote is not included. In addition, the anecdote-narrator may omit important factors relating to the "cure" (such as, for instance, a patient using conventional medicine together with an alternative remedy). <a href="/wiki/Mark_Twain" title="Mark Twain">Mark Twain</a>'s essay <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:In_defense_of_Harriet_Shelley,_and_other_essays.djvu/345">A Majestic Literary Fossil</a></i>, which describes various forms of old-fashioned <a href="/wiki/Quack" class="mw-redirect" title="Quack">quackery</a>, notes an anecdote: </p> <blockquote class="letter" style="width:auto; background:#f8f8ff; border:1px solid #C9C9CF;"> <p>Then follows a long account of how a dying woman, who had suffered nine hours a day with an ague during eight weeks, and who had been <a href="/wiki/Bloodletting" title="Bloodletting">bled</a> dry some dozens of times meantime without apparent benefit, was at last forced to swallow several wads of "Spiders-web," whereupon she straightway mended, and promptly got well. So the sage is full of enthusiasm over the spider-webs, and mentions only in the most casual way the discontinuance of the daily bleedings, plainly never suspecting that this had anything to do with the cure. </p> </blockquote> <p>If, in this case, the fact that the bloodletting was discontinued gets "mentioned only in the most casual way", it is easy to imagine that many anecdotes leave out important facts like this altogether. </p><p>A cancer patient named <a href="/wiki/Robert_O._Young#Kim_Tinkham" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert O. Young">Kim Tinkham</a> went on <a href="/wiki/Oprah" class="mw-redirect" title="Oprah"><i>The Oprah Winfrey Show</i></a> with a proponent of the <a href="/wiki/Alkaline_diet" title="Alkaline diet">alkaline diet</a> and claimed the diet had cured her, but she died of the cancer a few years later. Now, the eventual fate of Tinkham was revealed in news sources because she was famous, but if anonymous (or at least non-famous) authors of online testimonials die of a supposedly "cured" illness, it is not likely that this fact will get published on the website of the original testimonial, or possibly anywhere. </p><p>In a case-study involving spontaneous remission, a woman's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/diabetes" class="extiw" title="wp:diabetes" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: diabetes">diabetes</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> went away completely, with no treatment, shortly after she woke up from a coma. In a <a href="/wiki/CAM" class="mw-redirect" title="CAM">CAM</a> anecdote, that would be that — cure proven. But since this was a case-study rather than a testimonial, the person's post-recovery situation was observed, and two years later, a mild form of diabetes reappeared.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[7]</a></sup> Similarly, in an anecdotal case of a "cured" disease, the disease may later turn out to have been <a href="/wiki/Psychosomatic" title="Psychosomatic">illusory</a>. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Advantages_of_anecdotal_evidence">Advantages of anecdotal evidence</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Advantages of anecdotal evidence">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>My grandma heeded anecdotal evidence and she lived to 106. </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>When a cook in [Jean] Nicot's household nearly cut off his thumb with a chopping knife, the steward ran for the <a href="/wiki/Tobacco" class="mw-redirect" title="Tobacco">tobacco</a> plant and bound the thumb back on; after five or six dressings of the same sort, the wound healed.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<i>Medicinal uses of tobacco in history</i><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[8]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Also, Jeanne Calment, the person with the longest confirmed lifespan (122 years), <a href="/wiki/Smoking" class="mw-redirect" title="Smoking">smoked</a> for almost her entire adult life and nothing bad happened to her.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[9]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[10]</a></sup> And besides Calment, there are many centenarians who are heavy smokers.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[11]</a></sup> The composer Jean Sibelius was an alcoholic and smoker for most of his life, and he lived to be 91, even saying: "All the doctors who wanted to forbid me to smoke and to drink are dead."<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[12]</a></sup> By <a href="/wiki/Alternative_medicine" title="Alternative medicine">alternative medicine</a> logic, this should be indisputable proof that tobacco is actually good for you. As noted by Dan King in his 1861 book <i>Tobacco: What it is, and What it does</i>: </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Some are ready to contend that tobacco can have no tendency to shorten life because there are many old persons who use it. This is the drunkards' standing argument, and if it proved anything it would prove quite too much: if we are to conclude that tobacco is harmless because old men are found who use it, then by the same course of reasoning we must conclude that intoxicating liquors are harmless because drunkards sometimes live to old age; and by the same rule it might be shown that nobody had been slain or wounded in battle because some old soldiers still survive. Out of fifty persons bitten by a mad dog several may escape the <a href="/wiki/Rabies" title="Rabies">hydrophobia</a>, but such rare instances do not show that there is no danger from the bites of rabid animals. Peculiarity of temperament or idiosyncrasy may enable some constitutions to withstand for many years the pernicious effects of a virulent poison, but such exceptions to a general rule do not prove that poisons are harmless.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="The_power_of_anecdotes">The power of anecdotes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: The power of anecdotes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Anecdotal evidence is not accepted as proper proof or scientific evidence for good reason, yet they still dominate people's thinking. This is because while facts and figures may be <i>true</i>, they are difficult for people to relate to. Anecdotes have convincing and strong narratives that resonate with people on a key individual level — someone telling an anecdote will lead the listener to think that it just could happen to them too. There are further <a href="/wiki/Cognitive_bias" class="mw-redirect" title="Cognitive bias">biases</a> at work. Anecdotes, even implausible ones, can contain a high level of detail. It is this detail that causes people to become involved in the story and to imagine it more clearly; a <a href="/wiki/Urban_legend" title="Urban legend">story about a young girl</a> won't be nearly as widely spread and accepted as a story about a five year-old girl called Sally from <a href="/wiki/Wisconsin" class="mw-redirect" title="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a> who was cycling to school one day. </p><p>The biases at work in causing people to add disproportionate weight to anecdotes cause major problems during health scares. A major case in point is <a href="/wiki/Vaccine_hysteria" class="mw-redirect" title="Vaccine hysteria">vaccine hysteria</a>. </p> <ul><li>Hard, scientific and proven (yet dry and difficult to grasp) evidence about the value of vaccines exists on the one side.</li> <li>Strong narrative stories told by concerned parents competes on the other side.</li></ul> <p>It is often advised in such circumstances that those on the side of <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> should also use their own anecdotes to take advantage of their persuasive power. For example, instead of giving statistics of illnesses increasing when vaccination uptake dropped, tell — in great detail — stories about specific deaths that have occurred from vaccine-preventable illnesses. Respectable scientists, however, may be against <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion" title="Appeal to emotion">such manipulative tactics</a>. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/What%27s_The_Harm%3F" title="What's The Harm?">What's The Harm?</a> — Anecdotal evidence against alternative medicine</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Essay:List_of_CAM-free_anecdotes" title="Essay:List of CAM-free anecdotes">Essay:List of CAM-free anecdotes</a> — "Miraculous" recoveries without alternative medicine.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pragmatic_fallacy" title="Pragmatic fallacy">Pragmatic fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Magical_thinking" title="Magical thinking">Magical thinking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule" title="Exception that proves the rule">Exception that proves the rule</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Credulity" title="Credulity">Credulity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Miracle" title="Miracle">Miracle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trepanation" title="Trepanation">Trepanation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shoehorning" title="Shoehorning">Shoehorning</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.csicop.org/SI/show/why_bogus_therapies_seem_to_work/">Why Bogus Therapies Seem to Work</a>, Barry Beyerstein</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/why-we-need-science-i-saw-it-with-my-own-eyes-is-not-enough/">Why We Need Science: “I saw it with my own eyes” Is Not Enough</a>, <a href="/wiki/Harriet_Hall" title="Harriet Hall">Harriet Hall</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150412233008/http://rationalblogs.org/rationalwiki/2013/08/10/the-futility-of-anecdotal-evidence/">The Futility of Anecdotal Evidence</a>, The "What's going on at <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki" title="RationalWiki">RationalWiki</a>" blog</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2700/2700-h/2700-h.htm#link2H_4_0004">Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions</a>, by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., which dwells at some length on the topic of anecdotal evidence</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/miracles.html">Cancer: "Miraculous Recoveries"</a>, <a href="/wiki/Quackwatch" title="Quackwatch">Quackwatch</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://oracknows.blogspot.ca/2004/12/understanding-alternative-medicine.html">Understanding alternative medicine "testimonials" for cancer cures</a>, <a href="/wiki/Orac" title="Orac">Orac</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/04/16/a-homeopath-lectures-scientists-about-an/">A homeopath lectures scientists about anecdotal evidence</a>, Orac</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2013/08/20/the-key-difference-between-alternative-medicine-and-evidence-based-medicine/">The key difference between alternative medicine and evidence</a>, Orac</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://saveyourself.ca/articles/popular-but-dangerous-quackery.php">Popular but Weird and Dangerous Cures</a>, Paul Ingraham</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/anecdotal">Your logical fallacy is anecdotal</a>, <a href="/wiki/YLFI" class="mw-redirect" title="YLFI">YLFI</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theonion.com/article/sociologist-considers-own-behavior-indicative-of-l-421">Sociologist Considers Own Behavior Indicative Of Larger Trends</a>, The Onion</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Unless, of course, you gather <i>so many</i> anecdotes that it's possible to construct a representative statistical model. And even then, a <a href="/wiki/Double-blind" class="mw-redirect" title="Double-blind">double-blind</a> study would be preferable.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">For instance, many diseases have an "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/incubation_period" class="extiw" title="wp:incubation period" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: incubation period">incubation period</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>" — a length of time between a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pathogen" class="extiw" title="wp:pathogen" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: pathogen">pathogen</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> or toxin entering the body and the onset of its symptoms, during which a pathogen might quietly proliferate without the host being consciously aware of its presence. Given that most people do not have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_memory" class="extiw" title="wp:Photographic memory" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Photographic memory">photographic memories</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> different diseases have different incubation periods (and these are just diseases with external causes; genetic disorders such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington%27s_disease" class="extiw" title="wp:Huntington's disease" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Huntington's disease">Huntington's disease</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/multiple_sclerosis" class="extiw" title="wp:multiple sclerosis" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: multiple sclerosis">multiple sclerosis</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> can have "incubation periods" of <i>multiple decades</i>), and that a person generally does not instinctively know what disease they are suffering from without the aid of a trained doctor's diagnosis, it can often be difficult or impossible for a person to deduce when and how a given pathogen entered their body and started causing an illness.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">The anecdote also says nothing about other people who took the treatment and got better for reasons that <a href="/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation" title="Correlation does not imply causation">may or may not be related to the treatment</a> or the cause of our given anecdote subject's recovery.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bobarnebeck.com/defence.html"><i>A Defence of Blood-letting, as a Remedy for Certain Diseases</i></a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-cam-worldview/"><i>The CAM Worldview</i></a>, <a href="/wiki/Science-Based_Medicine" title="Science-Based Medicine">Science-Based Medicine</a>, October 23, 2013.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/hot/media/media2003.asp">Media Releases for 2003</a>, MedSafe.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.tobacco.org/History/monardes.html"><i>Of the Tabaco and of His Greate Vertues</i></a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/14/1047.full">Spontaneous Regression of Melanoma May Offer Insight Into Cancer Immunology</a>, Carrie Printz, JNCI <i>J. Natl. Cancer Inst.</i> (2001) 93 (14): 1047-1048.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/spring09/html/disc_remission.php">Study reveals surprising cancer remission rate</a>, <i>Dartmouth Medicine Magazine</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1578128/?page=1">"Spontaneous Remission of Diabetes"</a>, R. B. Haining and R. G. Haining.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079499/">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079499/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://extremelongevity.net/supercentenarians/worlds-top-ten-oldest-people-ever/oldest-person-ever-jeanne-calment/">http://extremelongevity.net/supercentenarians/worlds-top-ten-oldest-people-ever/oldest-person-ever-jeanne-calment/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.endlesshumanpotential.com/jeanne-calment.html">http://www.endlesshumanpotential.com/jeanne-calment.html</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://healthland.time.com/2011/08/05/even-the-long-lived-smoke-drink-and-dont-exercise/">Even the Long-Lived Smoke, Drink, and Don't Exercise</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/07/sibelius-chapte.html">The Rest Is Noise</a>, Alex Ross.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="logical_fallacies-navbox" style="clear:both;"> <table class="toccolours collapsible collapsed autocollapse innercollapse outercollapse navbox nowraplinks" style="width:100%;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="4" style="background:#009761; color:white; text-align:center;"><div style="float:left;" class="navbar"><div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Logfal" title="Template:Logfal"><span style="color:white">v</span></a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Logfal" title="Template talk:Logfal"><span style="color:white">t</span></a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Logfal&action=edit"><span style="color:white">e</span></a></div></div><span style="color:white; font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Category:Navigation_templates" title="Category:Navigation templates"><span style="color:white">Articles</span></a> about <a href="/wiki/Logical_fallacy" title="Logical fallacy"><span id="logical_fallacies-navbox" style="color:white">logical fallacies</span></a></span> </th></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#009761; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Informal_fallacies" title="Category:Informal fallacies"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Informal fallacies:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_tradition" title="Appeal to tradition">Appeal to tradition</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_novelty" title="Appeal to novelty">Appeal to novelty</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_nature" title="Appeal to nature">Appeal to nature</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_morality" title="Argument from morality">Argument from morality</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_martyrdom" title="Argumentum ad martyrdom">Argumentum ad martyrdom</a> • <a href="/wiki/Big_words" title="Big words">Big words</a> • <a href="/wiki/Certum_est_quia_impossibile_est" title="Certum est quia impossibile est">Certum est quia impossibile est</a> • <a href="/wiki/Morton%27s_fork" title="Morton's fork">Morton's fork</a> • <a href="/wiki/Friend_argument" title="Friend argument">Friend argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule" title="Exception that proves the rule">Exception that proves the rule</a> • <a href="/wiki/Extended_analogy" title="Extended analogy">Extended analogy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Hindsight_bias" title="Hindsight bias">Hindsight bias</a> • <a href="/wiki/Race_card" title="Race card">Race card</a> • <a href="/wiki/Moralistic_fallacy" title="Moralistic fallacy">Moralistic fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Release_the_data" title="Release the data">Release the data</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gish_Gallop" title="Gish Gallop">Gish Gallop</a> • <a href="/wiki/Terrorism-baiting" title="Terrorism-baiting">Terrorism-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Uncertainty_tactic" title="Uncertainty tactic">Uncertainty tactic</a> • <a href="/wiki/Greece-baiting" title="Greece-baiting">Greece-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ham_Hightail" title="Ham Hightail">Ham Hightail</a> • <a href="/wiki/Red-baiting" title="Red-baiting">Red-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gore%27s_Law" title="Gore's Law">Gore's Law</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nazi_analogies" title="Nazi analogies">Nazi analogies</a> • <a href="/wiki/Mistaking_the_map_for_the_territory" title="Mistaking the map for the territory">Mistaking the map for the territory</a> • <a href="/wiki/Red_herring" title="Red herring">Red herring</a> • <a href="/wiki/Quidquid_latine_dictum_sit,_altum_videtur" title="Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur">Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur</a> • <a href="/wiki/Presentism" title="Presentism">Presentism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Sunk_cost" title="Sunk cost">Sunk cost</a> • <a href="/wiki/Two_wrongs_make_a_right" title="Two wrongs make a right">Two wrongs make a right</a> • <a href="/wiki/Flying_carpet_fallacy" title="Flying carpet fallacy">Flying carpet fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/My_enemy%27s_enemy" title="My enemy's enemy">My enemy's enemy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_ancient_wisdom" title="Appeal to ancient wisdom">Appeal to ancient wisdom</a> • <a href="/wiki/Danth%27s_Law" title="Danth's Law">Danth's Law</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_lunam" title="Argumentum ad lunam">Argumentum ad lunam</a> • <a href="/wiki/Balance_fallacy" title="Balance fallacy">Balance fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Golden_hammer" title="Golden hammer">Golden hammer</a> • <a href="/wiki/Loaded_question" title="Loaded question">Loaded question</a> • <a href="/wiki/Escape_to_the_future" title="Escape to the future">Escape to the future</a> • <a href="/wiki/Word_magic" title="Word magic">Word magic</a> • <a href="/wiki/Spider-Man_fallacy" title="Spider-Man fallacy">Spider-Man fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Sanctioning_the_devil" title="Sanctioning the devil">Sanctioning the devil</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_mystery" title="Appeal to mystery">Appeal to mystery</a> • <a href="/wiki/Informal_fallacy" title="Informal fallacy">Informal fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Common_sense" title="Common sense">Common sense</a> • <a href="/wiki/Post-designation" title="Post-designation">Post-designation</a> • <a href="/wiki/Hyperbole" title="Hyperbole">Hyperbole</a> • <a href="/wiki/Relativist_fallacy" title="Relativist fallacy">Relativist fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Due_diligence" title="Due diligence">Due diligence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Straw_man" title="Straw man">Straw man</a> • <a href="/wiki/Good_old_days" title="Good old days">Good old days</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_probability" title="Appeal to probability">Appeal to probability</a> • <a href="/wiki/Infinite_regress" title="Infinite regress">Infinite regress</a> • <a href="/wiki/Circular_reasoning" title="Circular reasoning">Circular reasoning</a> • <a href="/wiki/Media_was_wrong_before" title="Media was wrong before">Media was wrong before</a> • <a href="/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem" title="Is–ought problem">Is–ought problem</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ad_iram" title="Ad iram">Ad iram</a> • <a href="/wiki/Just_asking_questions" title="Just asking questions">Just asking questions</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pink-baiting" title="Pink-baiting">Pink-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_faith" title="Appeal to faith">Appeal to faith</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_fear" title="Appeal to fear">Appeal to fear</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_bias" title="Appeal to bias">Appeal to bias</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_confidence" title="Appeal to confidence">Appeal to confidence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_consequences" title="Appeal to consequences">Appeal to consequences</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion" title="Appeal to emotion">Appeal to emotion</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_flattery" title="Appeal to flattery">Appeal to flattery</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_gravity" title="Appeal to gravity">Appeal to gravity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_hate" title="Appeal to hate">Appeal to hate</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_omniscience" title="Argument from omniscience">Argument from omniscience</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_silence" title="Argument from silence">Argument from silence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_baculum" title="Argumentum ad baculum">Argumentum ad baculum</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_fastidium" title="Argumentum ad fastidium">Argumentum ad fastidium</a> • <a href="/wiki/Association_fallacy" title="Association fallacy">Association fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Broken_window_fallacy" title="Broken window fallacy">Broken window fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Category_mistake" title="Category mistake">Category mistake</a> • <a href="/wiki/Confounding_factor" title="Confounding factor">Confounding factor</a> • <a href="/wiki/Counterfactual_fallacy" title="Counterfactual fallacy">Counterfactual fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Courtier%27s_Reply" title="Courtier's Reply">Courtier's Reply</a> • <a href="/wiki/Damning_with_faint_praise" title="Damning with faint praise">Damning with faint praise</a> • <a href="/wiki/Definitional_fallacies" title="Definitional fallacies">Definitional fallacies</a> • <a href="/wiki/Equivocation" title="Equivocation">Equivocation</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_accent" title="Fallacy of accent">Fallacy of accent</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_accident" title="Fallacy of accident">Fallacy of accident</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_amphiboly" title="Fallacy of amphiboly">Fallacy of amphiboly</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gambler%27s_fallacy" title="Gambler's fallacy">Gambler's fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Imprecision_fallacy" title="Imprecision fallacy">Imprecision fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts" title="Moving the goalposts">Moving the goalposts</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nirvana_fallacy" title="Nirvana fallacy">Nirvana fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Overprecision" title="Overprecision">Overprecision</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pathos_gambit" title="Pathos gambit">Pathos gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pragmatic_fallacy" title="Pragmatic fallacy">Pragmatic fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Quote_mining" title="Quote mining">Quote mining</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_sarcina_inserta" title="Argumentum ad sarcina inserta">Argumentum ad sarcina inserta</a> • <a href="/wiki/Science_doesn%27t_know_everything" title="Science doesn't know everything">Science doesn't know everything</a> • <a href="/wiki/Slothful_induction" title="Slothful induction">Slothful induction</a> • <a href="/wiki/Spotlight_fallacy" title="Spotlight fallacy">Spotlight fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Style_over_substance" title="Style over substance">Style over substance</a> • <a href="/wiki/Toupee_fallacy" title="Toupee fallacy">Toupee fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Genuine_but_insignificant_cause" title="Genuine but insignificant cause">Genuine but insignificant cause</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity" title="Argument from incredulity">Argument from incredulity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_age" title="Appeal to age">Appeal to age</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_nauseam" title="Argumentum ad nauseam">Argumentum ad nauseam</a> • <a href="/wiki/Phantom_distinction" title="Phantom distinction">Phantom distinction</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_common_sense" title="Appeal to common sense">Appeal to common sense</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_hysteria" title="Argumentum ad hysteria">Argumentum ad hysteria</a> • <a href="/wiki/Omnipotence_paradox" title="Omnipotence paradox">Omnipotence paradox</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_etymology" title="Argument from etymology">Argument from etymology</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_trauma" title="Appeal to trauma">Appeal to trauma</a> • <a href="/wiki/Countless_counterfeits_fallacy" title="Countless counterfeits fallacy">Countless counterfeits fallacy</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Ad_hoc" title="Category:Ad hoc"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Ad hoc:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/No_True_Scotsman" title="No True Scotsman">No True Scotsman</a> • <a href="/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts" title="Moving the goalposts">Moving the goalposts</a> • <a href="/wiki/Escape_hatch" title="Escape hatch">Escape hatch</a> • <a href="/wiki/Handwave" title="Handwave">Handwave</a> • <a href="/wiki/Special_pleading" title="Special pleading">Special pleading</a> • <a href="/wiki/Slothful_induction" title="Slothful induction">Slothful induction</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nirvana_fallacy" title="Nirvana fallacy">Nirvana fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/God_of_the_gaps" title="God of the gaps">God of the gaps</a> • <a href="/wiki/PIDOOMA" title="PIDOOMA">PIDOOMA</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ad_hoc" title="Ad hoc">Ad hoc</a> • <a href="/wiki/Tone_argument" title="Tone argument">Tone argument</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Arguments_from_ignorance" title="Category:Arguments from ignorance"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Arguments from ignorance:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Science_doesn%27t_know_everything" title="Science doesn't know everything">Science doesn't know everything</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity" title="Argument from incredulity">Argument from incredulity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_silence" title="Argument from silence">Argument from silence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Toupee_fallacy" title="Toupee fallacy">Toupee fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_censorship" title="Appeal to censorship">Appeal to censorship</a> • <a href="/wiki/Science_was_wrong_before" title="Science was wrong before">Science was wrong before</a> • <a href="/wiki/Holmesian_fallacy" title="Holmesian fallacy">Holmesian fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_omniscience" title="Argument from omniscience">Argument from omniscience</a> • <a href="/wiki/Willful_ignorance" title="Willful ignorance">Willful ignorance</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance" title="Argument from ignorance">Argument from ignorance</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Causation_fallacies" title="Category:Causation fallacies"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Causation fallacies:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Post_hoc,_ergo_propter_hoc" title="Post hoc, ergo propter hoc">Post hoc, ergo propter hoc</a> • <a href="/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation" title="Correlation does not imply causation">Correlation does not imply causation</a> • <a href="/wiki/Wrong_direction" title="Wrong direction">Wrong direction</a> • <a href="/wiki/Counterfactual_fallacy" title="Counterfactual fallacy">Counterfactual fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Regression_fallacy" title="Regression fallacy">Regression fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gambler%27s_fallacy" title="Gambler's fallacy">Gambler's fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Denying_the_antecedent" title="Denying the antecedent">Denying the antecedent</a> • <a href="/wiki/Genuine_but_insignificant_cause" title="Genuine but insignificant cause">Genuine but insignificant cause</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Circular_reasoning" title="Category:Circular reasoning"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Circular reasoning:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Infinite_regress" title="Infinite regress">Infinite regress</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_by_assertion" title="Argument by assertion">Argument by assertion</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_dictionarium" title="Argumentum ad dictionarium">Argumentum ad dictionarium</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_faith" title="Appeal to faith">Appeal to faith</a> • <a href="/wiki/Circular_reasoning" title="Circular reasoning">Circular reasoning</a> • <a href="/wiki/Self-refuting_idea" title="Self-refuting idea">Self-refuting idea</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Emotional_appeals" title="Category:Emotional appeals"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Emotional appeals:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_fear" title="Appeal to fear">Appeal to fear</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion" title="Appeal to emotion">Appeal to emotion</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_confidence" title="Appeal to confidence">Appeal to confidence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Deepity" title="Deepity">Deepity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_baculum" title="Argumentum ad baculum">Argumentum ad baculum</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_shame" title="Appeal to shame">Appeal to shame</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_flattery" title="Appeal to flattery">Appeal to flattery</a> • <a href="/wiki/Tone_argument" title="Tone argument">Tone argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_money" title="Appeal to money">Appeal to money</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_fastidium" title="Argumentum ad fastidium">Argumentum ad fastidium</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_gravity" title="Appeal to gravity">Appeal to gravity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_consequences" title="Appeal to consequences">Appeal to consequences</a> • <a href="/wiki/Loaded_language" title="Loaded language">Loaded language</a> • <a href="/wiki/Style_over_substance" title="Style over substance">Style over substance</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_pity" title="Appeal to pity">Appeal to pity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_hate" title="Appeal to hate">Appeal to hate</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pathos_gambit" title="Pathos gambit">Pathos gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Shaming" title="Shaming">Shaming</a> • <a href="/wiki/Degenerate" title="Degenerate">Degenerate</a> • <a href="/wiki/Abomination" title="Abomination">Abomination</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Fallacies_of_ambiguity" title="Category:Fallacies of ambiguity"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Fallacies of ambiguity:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_accent" title="Fallacy of accent">Fallacy of accent</a> • <a href="/wiki/Equivocation" title="Equivocation">Equivocation</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_amphiboly" title="Fallacy of amphiboly">Fallacy of amphiboly</a> • <a href="/wiki/Quote_mining" title="Quote mining">Quote mining</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_ambiguity" title="Fallacy of ambiguity">Fallacy of ambiguity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Moral_equivalence" title="Moral equivalence">Moral equivalence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Scope_fallacy" title="Scope fallacy">Scope fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Suppressed_correlative" title="Suppressed correlative">Suppressed correlative</a> • <a href="/wiki/Not_as_bad_as" title="Not as bad as">Not as bad as</a> • <a href="/wiki/Etymology" title="Etymology">Etymology</a> • <a href="/wiki/Continuum_fallacy" title="Continuum fallacy">Continuum fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Wronger_than_wrong" title="Wronger than wrong">Wronger than wrong</a> • <a href="/wiki/Definitional_fallacies" title="Definitional fallacies">Definitional fallacies</a> • <a href="/wiki/Code_word" title="Code word">Code word</a> • <a href="/wiki/Phantom_distinction" title="Phantom distinction">Phantom distinction</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#009761; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Formal_fallacies" title="Category:Formal fallacies"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Formal fallacies:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Confusion_of_the_inverse" title="Confusion of the inverse">Confusion of the inverse</a> • <a href="/wiki/Denying_the_antecedent" title="Denying the antecedent">Denying the antecedent</a> • <a href="/wiki/Non_sequitur" title="Non sequitur">Non sequitur</a> • <a href="/wiki/Affirmative_conclusion_from_a_negative_premise" title="Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise">Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise</a> • <a href="/wiki/Not_even_wrong" title="Not even wrong">Not even wrong</a> • <a href="/wiki/Chewbacca_Defense" title="Chewbacca Defense">Chewbacca Defense</a> • <a href="/wiki/Affirming_a_disjunct" title="Affirming a disjunct">Affirming a disjunct</a> • <a href="/wiki/Illicit_process" title="Illicit process">Illicit process</a> • <a href="/wiki/Four-term_fallacy" title="Four-term fallacy">Four-term fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Negative_conclusion_from_affirmative_premises" title="Negative conclusion from affirmative premises">Negative conclusion from affirmative premises</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_fallacy" title="Fallacy fallacy">Fallacy fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Substituting_explanation_for_premise" title="Substituting explanation for premise">Substituting explanation for premise</a> • <a href="/wiki/Enthymeme" title="Enthymeme">Enthymeme</a> • <a href="/wiki/Syllogism" title="Syllogism">Syllogism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Formal_fallacy" title="Formal fallacy">Formal fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Existential_assumption" title="Existential assumption">Existential assumption</a> • <a href="/wiki/Masked_man_fallacy" title="Masked man fallacy">Masked man fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Self-refuting_idea" title="Self-refuting idea">Self-refuting idea</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_by_gibberish" title="Argument by gibberish">Argument by gibberish</a> • <a href="/wiki/One_single_proof" title="One single proof">One single proof</a> • <a href="/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent" title="Affirming the consequent">Affirming the consequent</a> • <a href="/wiki/False_dilemma" title="False dilemma">False dilemma</a> • <a href="/wiki/Conjunction_fallacy" title="Conjunction fallacy">Conjunction fallacy</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#009761; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Fallacious_arguments" title="Category:Fallacious arguments"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Fallacious arguments:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Bumblebee_argument" title="Bumblebee argument">Bumblebee argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fatwa_envy" title="Fatwa envy">Fatwa envy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gotcha_argument" title="Gotcha argument">Gotcha argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Hoyle%27s_fallacy" title="Hoyle's fallacy">Hoyle's fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Intuition_pump" title="Intuition pump">Intuition pump</a> • <a href="/wiki/Logic_and_Creation" title="Logic and Creation">Logic and Creation</a> • <a href="/wiki/Not_Circular_Reasoning" title="Not Circular Reasoning">Not Circular Reasoning</a> • <a href="/wiki/Peanut_butter_argument" title="Peanut butter argument">Peanut butter argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Great_Beethoven_fallacy" title="Great Beethoven fallacy">Great Beethoven fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_unique_founding_conditions" title="Fallacy of unique founding conditions">Fallacy of unique founding conditions</a> • <a href="/wiki/Evil_is_the_absence_of_God" title="Evil is the absence of God">Evil is the absence of God</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_first_cause" title="Argument from first cause">Argument from first cause</a> • <a href="/wiki/How_do_you_know%3F_Were_you_there%3F" title="How do you know? Were you there?">How do you know? Were you there?</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_design" title="Argument from design">Argument from design</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_beauty" title="Argument from beauty">Argument from beauty</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_nature" title="Appeal to nature">Appeal to nature</a> • <a href="/wiki/Solferino_fallacy" title="Solferino fallacy">Solferino fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Religious_scientists" title="Religious scientists">Religious scientists</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nothing_to_hide" title="Nothing to hide">Nothing to hide</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_fine_tuning" title="Argument from fine tuning">Argument from fine tuning</a> • <a href="/wiki/Creep_shaming" title="Creep shaming">Creep shaming</a> • <a href="/wiki/%22I_used_to_be_an_atheist%22" title=""I used to be an atheist"">"I used to be an atheist"</a> • <a href="/wiki/Atheism_as_a_religion" title="Atheism as a religion">Atheism as a religion</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum" title="Argumentum ad populum">Argumentum ad populum</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_morality" title="Argument from morality">Argument from morality</a> • <a href="/wiki/Anti-environmentalism" title="Anti-environmentalism">Anti-environmentalism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_bias" title="Appeal to bias">Appeal to bias</a> • <a href="/wiki/Apophasis" title="Apophasis">Apophasis</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_nauseam" title="Argumentum ad nauseam">Argumentum ad nauseam</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_censorship" title="Appeal to censorship">Appeal to censorship</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_sarcina_inserta" title="Argumentum ad sarcina inserta">Argumentum ad sarcina inserta</a> • <a href="/wiki/Blaming_the_victim" title="Blaming the victim">Blaming the victim</a> • <a href="/wiki/Bait-and-switch" title="Bait-and-switch">Bait-and-switch</a> • <a href="/wiki/Danth%27s_Law" title="Danth's Law">Danth's Law</a> • <a href="/wiki/Chewbacca_Defense" title="Chewbacca Defense">Chewbacca Defense</a> • <a href="/wiki/Canard" title="Canard">Canard</a> • <a href="/wiki/DARVO" title="DARVO">DARVO</a> • <a href="/wiki/Demonization" title="Demonization">Demonization</a> • <a href="/wiki/Escape_hatch" title="Escape hatch">Escape hatch</a> • <a href="/wiki/Friend_argument" title="Friend argument">Friend argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Everyone_is_racist" title="Everyone is racist">Everyone is racist</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gish_Gallop" title="Gish Gallop">Gish Gallop</a> • <a href="/wiki/Greece-baiting" title="Greece-baiting">Greece-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Gore%27s_Law" title="Gore's Law">Gore's Law</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ham_Hightail" title="Ham Hightail">Ham Hightail</a> • <a href="/wiki/Just_asking_questions" title="Just asking questions">Just asking questions</a> • <a href="/wiki/Leading_question" title="Leading question">Leading question</a> • <a href="/wiki/Loaded_language" title="Loaded language">Loaded language</a> • <a href="/wiki/Linking_to_authority" title="Linking to authority">Linking to authority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Loaded_question" title="Loaded question">Loaded question</a> • <a href="/wiki/Lying_by_omission" title="Lying by omission">Lying by omission</a> • <a href="/wiki/Motte_and_bailey" title="Motte and bailey">Motte and bailey</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nazi_analogies" title="Nazi analogies">Nazi analogies</a> • <a href="/wiki/Moving_the_goalposts" title="Moving the goalposts">Moving the goalposts</a> • <a href="/wiki/One_single_proof" title="One single proof">One single proof</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pink-baiting" title="Pink-baiting">Pink-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/One-way_hash_argument" title="One-way hash argument">One-way hash argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pathos_gambit" title="Pathos gambit">Pathos gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Quote_mining" title="Quote mining">Quote mining</a> • <a href="/wiki/Poisoning_the_well" title="Poisoning the well">Poisoning the well</a> • <a href="/wiki/Quidquid_latine_dictum_sit,_altum_videtur" title="Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur">Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur</a> • <a href="/wiki/Race_card" title="Race card">Race card</a> • <a href="/wiki/Red-baiting" title="Red-baiting">Red-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Red_herring" title="Red herring">Red herring</a> • <a href="/wiki/Release_the_data" title="Release the data">Release the data</a> • <a href="/wiki/Science_was_wrong_before" title="Science was wrong before">Science was wrong before</a> • <a href="/wiki/Shill_gambit" title="Shill gambit">Shill gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Straw_man" title="Straw man">Straw man</a> • <a href="/wiki/Silent_Majority" title="Silent Majority">Silent Majority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Uncertainty_tactic" title="Uncertainty tactic">Uncertainty tactic</a> • <a href="/wiki/Style_over_substance" title="Style over substance">Style over substance</a> • <a href="/wiki/Terrorism-baiting" title="Terrorism-baiting">Terrorism-baiting</a> • <a href="/wiki/Weasel_word" title="Weasel word">Weasel word</a> • <a href="/wiki/What%27s_the_harm_(logical_fallacy)" title="What's the harm (logical fallacy)">What's the harm (logical fallacy)</a> • <a href="/wiki/Whataboutism" title="Whataboutism">Whataboutism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">Bullshit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Logical_fallacy" title="Logical fallacy">Logical fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Banana_argument" title="Banana argument">Banana argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Scapegoat" title="Scapegoat">Scapegoat</a> • <a href="/wiki/How_come_there_are_still_monkeys%3F" title="How come there are still monkeys?">How come there are still monkeys?</a> • <a href="/wiki/Anti-racist_is_a_code_word_for_anti-white" title="Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white">Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ontological_argument" title="Ontological argument">Ontological argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Omnipotence_paradox" title="Omnipotence paradox">Omnipotence paradox</a> • <a href="/wiki/Presuppositionalism" title="Presuppositionalism">Presuppositionalism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Just_a_joke" title="Just a joke">Just a joke</a> • <a href="/wiki/Countless_counterfeits_fallacy" title="Countless counterfeits fallacy">Countless counterfeits fallacy</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#009761; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Conditional_fallacies" title="Category:Conditional fallacies"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Conditional fallacies:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Slippery_slope" title="Slippery slope">Slippery slope</a> • <a href="/wiki/What%27s_the_harm_(logical_fallacy)" title="What's the harm (logical fallacy)">What's the harm (logical fallacy)</a> • <a href="/wiki/Special_pleading" title="Special pleading">Special pleading</a> • <a href="/wiki/Conditional_fallacy" title="Conditional fallacy">Conditional fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/On_the_spot_fallacy" title="On the spot fallacy">On the spot fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_the_minority" title="Appeal to the minority">Appeal to the minority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum" title="Argumentum ad populum">Argumentum ad populum</a> • <a href="/wiki/Galileo_gambit" title="Galileo gambit">Galileo gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Professor_of_nothing" title="Professor of nothing">Professor of nothing</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Genetic_fallacies" title="Category:Genetic fallacies"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Genetic fallacies:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Genetic_fallacy" title="Genetic fallacy">Genetic fallacy</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="1" style="background:#009761; width:15%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Appeals_to_authority" title="Category:Appeals to authority"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Appeals to authority:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Ipse_dixit" title="Ipse dixit">Ipse dixit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_confidence" title="Appeal to confidence">Appeal to confidence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum" title="Argumentum ad populum">Argumentum ad populum</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argument_from_authority" title="Argument from authority">Argument from authority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Linking_to_authority" title="Linking to authority">Linking to authority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Silent_Majority" title="Silent Majority">Silent Majority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Invincible_authority" title="Invincible authority">Invincible authority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_celebrity" title="Appeal to celebrity">Appeal to celebrity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Ultracrepidarianism" title="Ultracrepidarianism">Ultracrepidarianism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_the_minority" title="Appeal to the minority">Appeal to the minority</a> • <a href="/wiki/Galileo_gambit" title="Galileo gambit">Galileo gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_identity" title="Appeal to identity">Appeal to identity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Weasel_word" title="Weasel word">Weasel word</a> • <a href="/wiki/Professor_of_nothing" title="Professor of nothing">Professor of nothing</a> • <a href="/wiki/Euthyphro_dilemma" title="Euthyphro dilemma">Euthyphro dilemma</a> • <a href="/wiki/Divine_command_theory" title="Divine command theory">Divine command theory</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="1" style="background:#009761; width:15%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Ad_hominem" title="Category:Ad hominem"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Ad hominem:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Ad_iram" title="Ad iram">Ad iram</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_cellarium" title="Argumentum ad cellarium">Argumentum ad cellarium</a> • <a href="/wiki/Bulverism" title="Bulverism">Bulverism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Poisoning_the_well" title="Poisoning the well">Poisoning the well</a> • <a href="/wiki/Blaming_the_victim" title="Blaming the victim">Blaming the victim</a> • <a href="/wiki/Tu_quoque" title="Tu quoque">Tu quoque</a> • <a href="/wiki/Whataboutism" title="Whataboutism">Whataboutism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nutpicking" title="Nutpicking">Nutpicking</a> • <a href="/wiki/Jonanism" title="Jonanism">Jonanism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Demonization" title="Demonization">Demonization</a> • <a href="/wiki/Shill_gambit" title="Shill gambit">Shill gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_bias" title="Appeal to bias">Appeal to bias</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_opposition" title="Fallacy of opposition">Fallacy of opposition</a> • <a href="/wiki/Association_fallacy" title="Association fallacy">Association fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Damning_with_faint_praise" title="Damning with faint praise">Damning with faint praise</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pathos_gambit" title="Pathos gambit">Pathos gambit</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_identity" title="Appeal to identity">Appeal to identity</a> • <a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_hominem" title="Argumentum ad hominem">Argumentum ad hominem</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nazi_analogies" title="Nazi analogies">Nazi analogies</a> • <a href="/wiki/Not_an_argument" title="Not an argument">Not an argument</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nothing_to_hide" title="Nothing to hide">Nothing to hide</a> • <a href="/wiki/Scapegoat" title="Scapegoat">Scapegoat</a> • <a href="/wiki/%E5%9C%B0%E4%B8%8B%E5%AE%A4%E8%AE%BA%E8%AF%81" title="地下室论证">地下室论证</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td style="width:5%;">  </td> <td colspan="2" style="background:#009761; width:20%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Imprecision_fallacies" title="Category:Imprecision fallacies"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Imprecision fallacies:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Apex_fallacy" title="Apex fallacy">Apex fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Overprecision" title="Overprecision">Overprecision</a> • <a href="/wiki/Cherry_picking" title="Cherry picking">Cherry picking</a> • <a href="/wiki/Overgeneralization" title="Overgeneralization">Overgeneralization</a> • <a href="/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy" title="Texas sharpshooter fallacy">Texas sharpshooter fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/False_analogy" title="False analogy">False analogy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_fiction" title="Appeal to fiction">Appeal to fiction</a> • <a href="/wiki/Spotlight_fallacy" title="Spotlight fallacy">Spotlight fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Pragmatic_fallacy" title="Pragmatic fallacy">Pragmatic fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Selection_bias" title="Selection bias">Selection bias</a> • <a href="/wiki/Category_mistake" title="Category mistake">Category mistake</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nutpicking" title="Nutpicking">Nutpicking</a> • <a href="/wiki/Imprecision_fallacy" title="Imprecision fallacy">Imprecision fallacy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Confounding_factor" title="Confounding factor">Confounding factor</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_accident" title="Fallacy of accident">Fallacy of accident</a> • <a href="/wiki/Neyman%27s_bias" title="Neyman's bias">Neyman's bias</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#009761; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Valid_logical_methods" title="Category:Valid logical methods"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Valid logical methods:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/Rapoport%27s_Rules" title="Rapoport's Rules">Rapoport's Rules</a> • <a href="/wiki/Negative_evidence" title="Negative evidence">Negative evidence</a> • <a href="/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum" title="Reductio ad absurdum">Reductio ad absurdum</a> • </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" style="background:#009761; width:25%; text-align:right;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Fallacy_collections" title="Category:Fallacy collections"><span style="color:white; font-size:125%">Fallacy collections:</span></a></b> </td> <td style="background:#FFFFFF;"> <a href="/wiki/SeekFind" title="SeekFind">SeekFind</a> • <a href="/wiki/Nizkor_Project" title="Nizkor Project">Nizkor Project</a> • <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_Files" title="Fallacy Files">Fallacy Files</a> • <a href="/wiki/Your_Logical_Fallacy_Is" title="Your Logical Fallacy Is">Your Logical Fallacy Is</a> • <a href="/wiki/Logically_Fallacious" title="Logically Fallacious">Logically Fallacious</a> • </td></tr> </tbody></table> </div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&oldid=2658810">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&oldid=2658810</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Logic" title="Category:Logic">Logic</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Fallacies" title="Category:Fallacies">Fallacies</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Imprecision_fallacies" title="Category:Imprecision fallacies">Imprecision fallacies</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Language" title="Category:Language">Language</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pseudoscience" title="Category:Pseudoscience">Pseudoscience</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Rhetoric" title="Category:Rhetoric">Rhetoric</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden category: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_using_DynamicPageList_parser_function" title="Category:Pages using DynamicPageList parser function">Pages using DynamicPageList parser function</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-navigation"> <h2>Navigation menu</h2> <div id="mw-head">  <nav id="p-personal" class="vector-menu" aria-labelledby="p-personal-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-personal-label"> <span>Personal tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="pt-anonuserpage">Not logged in</li><li id="pt-anontalk"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n">Talk</a></li><li id="pt-anoncontribs"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y">Contributions</a></li><li id="pt-createaccount"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Anecdotal+evidence" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory">Create account</a></li><li id="pt-login"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Anecdotal+evidence" title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]" accesskey="o">Log in</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="left-navigation">  <nav id="p-namespaces" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-namespaces-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-namespaces-label"> <span>Namespaces</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected"><a href="/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c">Page</a></li><li id="ca-talk"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Anecdotal_evidence" rel="discussion" title="Discussion about the content page [t]" accesskey="t">Talk</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-variants" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-variants-label" /> <h3 id="p-variants-label"> <span>Variants</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation">  <nav id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs vectorTabs" aria-labelledby="p-views-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-views-label"> <span>Views</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="ca-view" class="collapsible selected"><a href="/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence">Read</a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e">Edit</a></li><li id="ca-history" class="collapsible"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h">Fossil record</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu-empty emptyPortlet vector-menu vector-menu-dropdown vectorMenu" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" role="navigation" > <input type="checkbox" class="vector-menu-checkbox vectorMenuCheckbox" aria-labelledby="p-cactions-label" /> <h3 id="p-cactions-label"> <span>More</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="menu vector-menu-content-list"></ul> </div> </nav> <div id="p-search" role="search"> <h3 > <label for="searchInput">Search</label> </h3> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform"> <div id="simpleSearch"> <input type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search RationalWiki" title="Search RationalWiki [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput"/> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> <input type="submit" name="fulltext" value="Search" title="Search the pages for this text" id="mw-searchButton" class="searchButton mw-fallbackSearchButton"/> <input type="submit" name="go" value="Go" title="Go to a page with this exact name if it exists" id="searchButton" class="searchButton"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mw-panel"> <div id="p-logo" role="banner"> <a title="Visit the main page" class="mw-wiki-logo" href="/wiki/Main_Page"></a> </div>  <nav id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal portal-first" aria-labelledby="p-navigation-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-navigation-label"> <span>Navigation</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-mainpage-description"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z">Main page</a></li><li id="n-recentchanges"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes in the wiki [r]" accesskey="r">Recent changes</a></li><li id="n-randompage"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Load a random mainspace article [x]" accesskey="x">Random page</a></li><li id="n-New-pages"><a href="/wiki/Special:NewPages">New pages</a></li><li id="n-All-logs"><a href="/wiki/Special:Log">All logs</a></li><li id="n-help"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="RTFM">Help</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-support" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-support-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-support-label"> <span>Support</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Donate"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Site_support">Donate</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-community" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-community-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-community-label"> <span>Community</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Saloon-bar"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Saloon_bar">Saloon bar</a></li><li id="n-To-do-list"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:To_do_list">To do list</a></li><li id="n-What-is-going-on.3F"><a href="/wiki/WIGO">What is going on?</a></li><li id="n-Best-of-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Contents">Best of RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-About-RationalWiki"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki">About RationalWiki</a></li><li id="n-Technical-support"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support">Technical support</a></li><li id="n-Mod-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:All_things_in_moderation">Mod noticeboard</a></li><li id="n-RMF-noticeboard"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki_talk:RationalMedia_Foundation">RMF noticeboard</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-Social media" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-Social media-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-Social media-label"> <span>Social media</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="n-Twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/RationalWiki" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></li><li id="n-Mastodon"><a href="https://mstdn.social/@rationalwiki" rel="nofollow">Mastodon</a></li><li id="n-Facebook"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rationalwiki/226614404019306" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></li><li id="n-Discord"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Discord">Discord</a></li><li id="n-Reddit"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Reddit">Reddit</a></li></ul> </div> </nav>  <nav id="p-tb" class="vector-menu vector-menu-portal portal" aria-labelledby="p-tb-label" role="navigation" > <h3 id="p-tb-label"> <span>Tools</span> </h3>  <div class="body vector-menu-content">  <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"><li id="t-whatlinkshere"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Anecdotal_evidence" title="A list of all wiki pages that link here [j]" accesskey="j">What links here</a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Anecdotal_evidence" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k">Related changes</a></li><li id="t-specialpages"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q">Special pages</a></li><li id="t-print"><a href="javascript:print();" rel="alternate" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p">Printable version</a></li><li id="t-permalink"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&oldid=2658810" title="Permanent link to this revision of the page">Permanent link</a></li><li id="t-info"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Anecdotal_evidence&action=info" title="More information about this page">Page information</a></li></ul> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" role="contentinfo" > <ul id="footer-info" > <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 1 July 2024, at 12:18.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Unless explicitly noted otherwise, all content licensed as indicated by <a name="Copyright" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights">RationalWiki:Copyrights</a>. <br> For concerns on copyright infringement please see: <a name="Copyright infringement" href="//rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyright_violations">RationalWiki:Copyright violations</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places" > <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Privacy_policy" title="RationalWiki:Privacy policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:About" class="mw-redirect" title="RationalWiki:About">About RationalWiki</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimer"><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:General_disclaimer" title="RationalWiki:General disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"><img src="/w/88x31.png" alt="CC-BY-SA 3.0, or any later version" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" srcset="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"/></a></li> </ul> <div style="clear: both;"></div> </footer> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.251","walltime":"1.044","ppvisitednodes":{"value":3023,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":90066,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":7917,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":10,"limit":40},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":0,"limit":100},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":9067,"limit":5000000},"timingprofile":["100.00% 808.424 1 -total"," 71.08% 574.633 1 Template:Logfal"," 70.22% 567.699 1 Template:Navbox"," 10.74% 86.860 1 Template:Logic"," 9.61% 77.720 1 Template:Navsidebar"," 8.96% 72.456 2 Template:Reflist"," 7.65% 61.881 2 Template:Navsidebar2"," 6.72% 54.346 2 Template:Randomarticles"," 2.18% 17.605 7 Template:Wpl"," 1.91% 15.413 2 Template:Main"]},"cachereport":{"origin":"apache5","timestamp":"20250225152747","ttl":86400,"transientcontent":false}}});mw.config.set({"wgBackendResponseTime":164,"wgHostname":"apache5"});});</script></body></html>