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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/Style_over_substance" title="Style over substance">Style over substance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Occam%27s_razor" title="Occam's razor">Occam's razor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_nature" title="Appeal to nature">Appeal to nature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Post-designation" title="Post-designation">Post-designation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Logical_fallacy" title="Logical fallacy">Logical fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bertrand_Russell" title="Bertrand Russell">Bertrand Russell</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/Release_the_data" title="Release the data">Release the data</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/Blaming_the_victim" title="Blaming the victim">Blaming the victim</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Enthymeme" title="Enthymeme">Enthymeme</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/If-by-whiskey" title="If-by-whiskey">If-by-whiskey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">Bullshit</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> <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>There's a kind of notion that everyone's opinion is equally valid. My arse! A bloke who's been a professor of <a href="/wiki/Dentistry" title="Dentistry">dentistry</a> for 40 years does not have a debate with some eejit who removes his teeth with string and a door!</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="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_%C3%93_Briain" class="extiw" title="wp:Dara Ó Briain" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Dara Ó Briain">Dara Ó Briain</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><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <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>Whether it’s Jimmy Carter seeking donations to build orphanages, or Donald Trump raising funds to pay the lawyers defending him against multiple criminal indictments, presidents of both parties have spent their post-White House years asking the public for money.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup></div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <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 choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!</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="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_(band)" class="extiw" title="wp:Rush (band)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Rush (band)">Rush</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>, "Freewill"</cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>balance fallacy</b> is an <a href="/wiki/Informal_fallacy" title="Informal fallacy">informal logical fallacy</a> that occurs when two sides of an <a href="/wiki/Argument" title="Argument">argument</a> are assumed to have equal or comparable value regardless of their respective merits, which (in turn) can lead to the conclusion that the answer to a problem is always to be found between two <a href="/wiki/Extremism" class="mw-redirect" title="Extremism">extremes</a>. The latter is effectively an inverse <a href="/wiki/False_dilemma" title="False dilemma">false dilemma</a>, discarding the two extremes rather than the middle. </p><p>While the <a href="/wiki/Rational" class="mw-redirect" title="Rational">rational</a> position on a topic is often between two extremes, this cannot be assumed without actually considering the <a href="/wiki/Evidence" title="Evidence">evidence</a>. Sometimes the extreme position is actually the correct one, and sometimes the entire spectrum of belief is wrong, and <a href="/wiki/Truth" title="Truth">truth</a> exists in an orthogonal direction that hasn't yet been considered. Furthermore, oftentimes the two sides being compared aren't equally extreme, so a conclusion drawn from this fallacy will end up benefiting the more extreme side. </p><p>Balance is often a problem in the <a href="/wiki/Media" title="Media">media</a>, where confrontational or adversarial <a href="/wiki/Journalism" title="Journalism">journalism</a> might present more of a controversy about some topic than actually exists, giving equal time to <a href="/wiki/Fringe" title="Fringe">fringe</a> minority viewpoints to draw in viewers. It is effectively the opposite of <a href="/wiki/Bias" class="mw-redirect" title="Bias">bias</a> — whereas bias over-emphasises one view to the detriment of another legitimate, well-supported view to give the impression of one being favoured, false balance over-emphasises a minority or unsupported view to the detriment of a well-supported view to give the impression that neither is favoured. </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="#Alternate_names"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Alternate names</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Form"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Form</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Problems"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Problems</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#Examples"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Examples</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#Politics"><span class="tocnumber">4.1</span> <span class="toctext">Politics</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Teaching_the_controversy"><span class="tocnumber">4.2</span> <span class="toctext">Teaching the controversy</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Health_scares"><span class="tocnumber">4.3</span> <span class="toctext">Health scares</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#In_discussions"><span class="tocnumber">4.4</span> <span class="toctext">In discussions</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#Broderism"><span class="tocnumber">4.5</span> <span class="toctext">Broderism</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="#Want_to_read_this_in_another_language.3F"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Want to read this in another language?</span></a></li> </ul> </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="Alternate_names">Alternate names</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Alternate names">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li>false balance</li> <li>false compromise</li> <li>middle ground</li> <li>splitting the difference</li> <li><i>argumentum ad temperantiam</i></li> <li>false equivalency</li> <li>"bothsidesism," as <a href="/wiki/Paul_Krugman" title="Paul Krugman">Paul Krugman</a> calls it when it's in the <a href="/wiki/Media" title="Media">media</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup></li></ul> <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=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Form">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>There is a choice to make between doing <i><b>X</b></i> or doing <i><b>Y</b></i>. Therefore, the answer is somewhere between <i><b>X</b></i> and <i><b>Y</b></i>. </p><p>The problem is that it's possible that either <i><b>X</b></i> or <i><b>Y</b></i> is entirely true, meaning that only partially doing the right thing makes little sense. This argument is generally built around the idea that the middle point between two extremes is equal parts of each side and therefore equally acceptable to both sides; but as the saying goes, half a kitten is not half as cute, it's a bloody mess. </p> <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=Balance_fallacy&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>By creating a sense that discourse is all one extreme against the other or one cynic against another, <a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a> has added to the corrosive cynicism that permeates politics… by having every discussion of <a href="/wiki/Climate_change" title="Climate change">climate change</a> include one <a href="/wiki/Scientist" class="mw-redirect" title="Scientist">scientist</a> who says it is real and manmade <a href="/wiki/Wingnut_welfare" title="Wingnut welfare">against another who denies it</a>, CNN has contributed to an atmosphere where "facts" are not real — you can find an expert anywhere to deny them.</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">—Norm Ornstein<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The application of the fallacy leads to major problems: </p> <ul><li>It can lead to equal exposure of an argument <i>despite</i> its lack of merit or relevance. This may arise due to a misunderstanding of <a href="/wiki/Probability" title="Probability">probability</a>, that two outcomes or positions lead to a probability of 50:50 for each, and so both deserve an equal chance to put themselves forward. In fact, probability is not necessarily equal.</li></ul> <ul><li>It can lead to the belief that the truth must lie somewhere in-between the two opposing sides, when it's very much possible that one side is completely wrong. In this context, the fallacy is sometimes known as the <b><a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_moderation" class="mw-redirect" title="Appeal to moderation">argument to moderation</a></b> (or <i>argumentum ad temperantiam</i>), and may be the result of attempts to reach a compromise between mutually exclusive positions, as often found in <a href="/wiki/Political" class="mw-redirect" title="Political">political</a> <a href="/wiki/Debate" title="Debate">debate</a> where there is not necessarily an <a href="/wiki/Objective_morality" class="mw-redirect" title="Objective morality">objective</a> "truth", as such, to be found behind a political policy.</li></ul> <ul><li>The currency of experts is over-inflated, and one could argue that the bubble has popped. When CNN is presenting <a href="/wiki/Professor_of_nothing" title="Professor of nothing">Doctor Joe Bloggs</a> as a climate change "expert" against someone with a Princeton degree who has dedicated their life to the topic, the public now needs an expert to examine credentials before they can examine evidence given by experts. Conversely, the <a href="/wiki/BBC" title="BBC">BBC</a> instructed their reporters to stop giving credence to climate deniers in 2014.</li></ul> <ul><li>In practical design and planning, it can lead to the creation of awkward compromise positions that lack the efficiency of either alternative while trying to keep everybody happy. An extreme example would be for a nation which couldn't decide whether to drive on the left or right of the road to say that everybody should drive in the middle. In milder forms it can lead to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/requirement_creep" class="extiw" title="wp:requirement creep" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: requirement creep">requirement creep</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/feature_creep" class="extiw" title="wp:feature creep" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: feature creep">feature creep</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> which result in bloat, delay, and overcomplication, and an end result that suits nobody. Political policies such as "<a href="/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell" title="Don't ask, don't tell">don't ask, don't tell</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> and <a href="/wiki/Obamacare" class="mw-redirect" title="Obamacare">Obamacare</a>'s compromise between public and private healthcare have been accused of this.</li></ul> <ul><li>It often ends up benefitting extremists, as when a moderate option and an extreme one are being compared, the middle between the two is still fairly extreme. Furthermore, extremists will often become more radical over time, which will push the center further towards their views. For example, over the last 40 years, the <a href="/wiki/Republican_Party" title="Republican Party">Republican Party</a> has moved sharply towards the right while the <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Party" title="Democratic Party">Democratic Party</a> has moved towards the center, resulting in many "moderates" supporting things like <a href="/wiki/Neoliberalism" title="Neoliberalism">neoliberalism</a> that were once seen by the <i>Republicans</i>, let alone the Democrats, as way too far to the right.</li></ul> <p>Avoiding the balance fallacy requires objective criteria for assessing arguments and cannot rely on just giving all arguments equal exposure for the sake of fairness. Arguments must be assessed using criteria such as <a href="/wiki/Formal_logic" class="mw-redirect" title="Formal logic">formal logic</a>, scholarly consensus, and <a href="/wiki/Empirical" class="mw-redirect" title="Empirical">empirical</a> <a href="/wiki/Evidence" title="Evidence">evidence</a> to see if a legitimate controversy exists between two viewpoints. Avoiding the balance fallacy does not entitle someone to the freedom to reject any and all criticism because they claim to have sufficiently "proven" their position, however. The fallacy is also avoided in generalised criticisms of "both sides", as long as the speaker does not try to imply that there is equality within the criticised concept. For example, saying "both feminists and anti-feminists alike make bad arguments" is not an example of the balance fallacy, though suggesting that they use equally bad logic overall probably is. Here, the criticised concept is "making bad arguments". </p><p><b>Moral equivalence</b> is a related concept, which refers to the degree of comparability of different actions or beliefs on a moral basis. Basically, how morally justifiable is a certain viewpoint? For example, right-wingers often point out that both <a href="/wiki/Communists" class="mw-redirect" title="Communists">communists</a> and <a href="/wiki/Fascists" class="mw-redirect" title="Fascists">fascists</a> killed people, yet, fascism is seen as more negative. Furthermore, Nazi symbols are often subject to significant controversy and legal restrictions,<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> while, comparatively, communist symbols are not.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> However, many on the left would be quick to point out the lack of a moral equivalence between these ideologies; the flaws of fascism and Nazism lie not only in the method — an extremely authoritarian, jingoistic government — but also in the underlying ideals, which include <a href="/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racial purity</a> and genocide. Communism, while implemented poorly, does not necessitate these exclusionary and fringe aspects in order to coherently function as a theory, so it is allowed to be promoted, even if considered extremist. Here, there is a false moral equivalence between fascism and communism. This concept was also brought up during the 2017 Charlottesville protests, where <a href="/wiki/Trump" class="mw-redirect" title="Trump">Trump</a> condemned violence on "many sides".<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> Technically, he is correct to do so, though this is arguably a false equivalence because anti-fascist violence is justified when defending against actual fascists. </p><p>That being said, moral equivalence may not always be relevant. For example, if one has a low opinion of both Antifa and fascists (for different reasons), it is not a balance fallacy to criticise them both. Arguing the contrary risks invoking <a href="/wiki/Not_as_bad_as" title="Not as bad as">relative privation</a>, a fallacy in which because "we're not as bad as them, there's no problem". The fact that fascists generally suck doesn't excuse <i>all</i> of the actions of Antifa, and invoking 'moral equivalence' here is a mere distraction. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> avoids the balance fallacy (to some degree) with its policy of not giving undue weight<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> to minority viewpoints or <a href="/wiki/Fringe" title="Fringe">fringe</a> theories<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> in its articles. <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki" title="RationalWiki">RationalWiki</a>, on the other hand, avoids the balance fallacy by calling fringe theories <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">bullshit</a> from start to finish, even though some of the theories of the greatest scientists of all time were considered "fringe" theories in their time. Similarly, <a href="/wiki/Conservapedia" title="Conservapedia">Conservapedia</a> avoids the balance fallacy <a href="/wiki/Willful_ignorance" title="Willful ignorance">by calling reality bullshit</a> from start to finish. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Examples">Examples</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Examples">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:FalseBalance.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/4/48/FalseBalance.jpg/300px-FalseBalance.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="300" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/4/48/FalseBalance.jpg/450px-FalseBalance.jpg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/4/48/FalseBalance.jpg/600px-FalseBalance.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1080" data-file-height="1080" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:FalseBalance.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>In a nutshell</div></div></div> <ul><li>The Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850, which both tried to find a "middle ground" between abolitionists and pro-<a href="/wiki/Slavery" title="Slavery">slavery</a> forces. Of course, the abolitionists were entirely correct to want to outlaw slavery completely, but this was seen as too extreme for many at the time. Well, <a href="/wiki/American_Civil_War" title="American Civil War">how did that turn out</a>?</li> <li>"Some say austerity in a depressed economy is bad. Others say austerity in a depressed economy is good. Therefore, some austerity in a depressed economy is the correct answer." This one's fairly common in America, where there is no single <a href="/wiki/Leftist" class="mw-redirect" title="Leftist">left-wing</a> <a href="/wiki/Political_party" title="Political party">party</a> to promote the idea of <a href="/wiki/Keynesianism" class="mw-redirect" title="Keynesianism">spending more</a> in a depressed economy, so the debate is between <a href="/wiki/Centrist" class="mw-redirect" title="Centrist">centrists</a> and right-wingers.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup></li> <li>"One of my friends wants me to use a pharmacist's prescription to treat my illness, another one of my friends wants me to use <a href="/wiki/Holistic_medicine" class="mw-redirect" title="Holistic medicine">holistic medicine</a>. Therefore I'll take only half of my prescription and use half of the holistic's recommendations."</li> <li>"Joe thinks the Packers will win the game. Frank thinks the Eagles will win. That means the game will probably end in a tie."</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Homosexuality" title="Homosexuality">Gay people</a> want the right to marry. <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalists" class="mw-redirect" title="Fundamentalists">Fundamentalists</a> don't want gay people to marry. Therefore we should just give gay people <a href="/wiki/Civil_unions" class="mw-redirect" title="Civil unions">civil unions</a> and be on our merry way."<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[note 1]</a></sup> (Or on a similar note: "Gay people want the right to serve in the military. Conservatives don't want gay people in the military. Therefore, <a href="/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell" title="Don't ask, don't tell">let's allow gay people to serve in the military as long as they stay in the closet</a>.")</li> <li>Conservatives say "<a href="/wiki/Global_warming" class="mw-redirect" title="Global warming">global warming</a> isn't real." Liberals believe in anthropogenic climate change. Therefore, climate change is real, but we're not the ones causing it.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[13]</a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trans_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Trans people">Trans people</a> want to be recognized by their preferred names and pronouns. But conservatives disrespect both, since <a href="/wiki/Chromosome" title="Chromosome">chromosomes</a> cannot be changed. Therefore, we should respect trans people's new names, but not their pronouns.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[note 2]</a></sup></li> <li>It's largely accepted that the only reason most mainstream papers carry <i><a href="/wiki/Mallard_Fillmore" title="Mallard Fillmore">Mallard Fillmore</a></i> (apt title) is to act as a counter-weight to keep conservatives happy, since they were complaining when the only political cartoon in most papers was <i>Doonesbury</i>.</li> <li>Christian fundamentalists and LGBT people have a fight, both sides must be equally responsible for this conflict!</li></ul> <ul><li>In a supposed effort to promote "balance", <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-SPAN" class="extiw" title="wp:C-SPAN" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: C-SPAN">C-SPAN</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> attempted to broadcast a 2004 speech by <a href="/wiki/Holocaust" title="Holocaust">Holocaust</a> historian Deborah Lipstadt adjacent to a speech by <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denier" class="mw-redirect" title="Holocaust denier">Holocaust denier</a> <a href="/wiki/David_Irving" title="David Irving">David Irving</a>, notorious for his earlier failed lawsuit against Lipstadt. After much public outrage, Lipstadt banned the media from her event, and ultimately C-SPAN canceled both broadcasts.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[15]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[note 3]</a></sup></li></ul> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Politics">Politics</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Politics">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>In general, politics is a process of compromise between interest groups making extreme demands; for example, the <a href="/wiki/Gun_control" title="Gun control">gun control</a> debate does have people on one side who want to ban kitchen knives and people on the other who think it should be lawful for civilians to own <a href="/wiki/Nuclear_weapons" class="mw-redirect" title="Nuclear weapons">nuclear weapons</a>. Indeed, in politics the term "extremist" has a connotation of unreasonableness attached to it. However, it is still true that extremists are not wrong simply because they are extreme; in <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hitler" class="mw-redirect" title="Hitler">Hitler</a> wanted to kill all the <a href="/wiki/Jews" class="mw-redirect" title="Jews">Jews</a>, while the Jews didn't want him to kill any of them. Most would <i>not</i> argue the logically correct answer was to kill half the Jews. </p><p>It may sound <a href="/wiki/Hyperbole" title="Hyperbole">hyperbolic</a>, but remember that the <a href="/wiki/Alt-right" title="Alt-right">alt-right</a> has become a legitimate political movement. <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> has created <a href="/wiki/Concentration_camp" title="Concentration camp">concentration camps</a> for refugees, has accused <a href="/wiki/Barack_Obama" title="Barack Obama">his predecessor</a> of being a foreign agent, and has refused to release his <a href="/wiki/Tax" title="Tax">tax</a> returns (<a href="/wiki/Mitt_Romney" title="Mitt Romney">Romney</a> tried this stunt and got battered for his evasion). The press is forced to entertain his point of view. America hasn't changed that much in four years, but the media landscape has. Cable networks like <a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a> are desperate. Their biggest share of viewers are older and whiter than the general public, and that skews <a href="/wiki/Republican" class="mw-redirect" title="Republican">Republican</a>. They simply cannot afford to appear biased (read: <a href="/wiki/Liberal" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberal">liberal</a>) in calling a <a href="/wiki/Republican" class="mw-redirect" title="Republican">Republican</a> <a href="/wiki/POTUS" class="mw-redirect" title="POTUS">POTUS</a> a <a href="/wiki/Liar" class="mw-redirect" title="Liar">liar</a>. So, they create a false equivalency to hedge. </p><p>Even after the national tragedies at <a href="/wiki/Charlottesville" class="mw-redirect" title="Charlottesville">Charlottesville</a> and <a href="/wiki/Marjory_Stoneman_Douglas_shooting" class="mw-redirect" title="Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting">Parkland</a> (especially in the case of the former, which was a dispute between right and left-wing protesters, yet only the right actually killed anyone) where people were directly murdered by <a href="/wiki/White_supremacists" class="mw-redirect" title="White supremacists">white supremacists</a>, when preventative measures were called for against extremist <a href="/wiki/Rhetoric" title="Rhetoric">rhetoric</a> and stricter laws to keep <a href="/wiki/Assault_rifle" class="mw-redirect" title="Assault rifle">assault rifles</a> out of the hands of people with known violent histories, false equivalence was made between <a href="/wiki/White_nationalist" class="mw-redirect" title="White nationalist">white nationalists</a> on the right and <a href="/wiki/Antifa" class="mw-redirect" title="Antifa">Antifa</a> on the left. To the point that advocates state we haven't reached a practical answer that suits everyone and there needs to be a calm and balanced discussion by sane people without any political agenda or you'll <a href="/wiki/Godwin%27s_Law" class="mw-redirect" title="Godwin's Law">risk oppressing innocent groups of people</a>, despite the fact that that hatred is directly written into <a href="/wiki/Nazi" class="mw-redirect" title="Nazi">Nazi</a> ideology, so even the most nonviolent racist will still go to the ends of the earth to oppress people and create a white <a href="/wiki/Ethnostate" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethnostate">ethnostate</a>. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Teaching_the_controversy">Teaching the controversy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Teaching the controversy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>An example of the balance fallacy is found in the <a href="/wiki/Discovery_Institute" title="Discovery Institute">Discovery Institute</a>'s campaign for American <a href="/wiki/Public_schools" class="mw-redirect" title="Public schools">public schools</a> to "<a href="/wiki/Teach_the_controversy" title="Teach the controversy">teach the controversy</a>" in <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> lessons, giving equal weight to the <a href="/wiki/Theory_of_evolution" title="Theory of evolution">theory of evolution</a> and <a href="/wiki/Intelligent_design" title="Intelligent design">intelligent design</a> criticisms of it, although these criticisms are reliant on <a href="/wiki/Creationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Creationist">creationist</a> religious views that have been overwhelmingly discredited within the scientific community. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Health_scares">Health scares</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Health scares">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <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 lot of <a href="/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement" title="Anti-vaccination movement">these groups</a> are insisting that I "present both sides of the argument", and I'm not going to do that either, because — well, for the same reasons that I wouldn't present both sides if a group of people decided that pancakes make you <a href="/wiki/Gay" class="mw-redirect" title="Gay">gay</a>. They <i>don't</i>. And there's no point in discussing it.</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">—Jimmy Kimmel<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[16]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>While evolution bears the brunt of the balance fallacy, issues of <a href="/wiki/Evidence-based_medicine" title="Evidence-based medicine">evidence-based medicine</a> suffer from news reports wanting to put forward balanced views. Despite evidence and the vast, vast majority of doctors agreeing that <a href="/wiki/Vaccines" class="mw-redirect" title="Vaccines">vaccines</a> <i>do not</i> cause <a href="/wiki/Autism" title="Autism">autism</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Media" title="Media">media</a> have often given 50:50 airtime to the mainstream view and doctors who say otherwise. This usually isn't helped by the likes of the British Medical Association (during the <a href="/wiki/MMR" class="mw-redirect" title="MMR">MMR</a> scare of 2000-2004).<sup>[<a href="/wiki/Help:References" title="Help:References"><i>citation needed</i></a>]</sup> </p><p>The main issue with health scares is that while balance is sought in terms of content and exposure, it's rarely ever achieved in terms of what the public perceive, not least because if balance <i>was</i> properly achieved, the audience wouldn't go away thinking that there was a controversy. In debates regarding health, the evidence side will usually be represented by a doctor who states facts, figures, and research, while the <a href="/wiki/Paranoid" class="mw-redirect" title="Paranoid">paranoid</a> side will be represented by some "human interest" (<a href="/wiki/Jenny_McCarthy" title="Jenny McCarthy">Jenny McCarthy</a> for example). While the "human interest" side would cite no <a href="/wiki/Fact" title="Fact">facts</a> or figures, their <a href="/wiki/Emotional_appeal" class="mw-redirect" title="Emotional appeal">emotive stories</a> resonate far more with the public, who can empathize with an individual more than they can do with a <a href="/wiki/Clinical_trial" class="mw-redirect" title="Clinical trial">clinical trial</a>. Therefore, the message received by the audience is more "individuals are concerned and are suffering, why aren't scientists taking note of them" rather than the more accurate "the plural of <a href="/wiki/Anecdote" class="mw-redirect" title="Anecdote">anecdote</a> is not data". </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="In_discussions">In discussions</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: In discussions">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Simply drawing attention to some perceived flaw of a position or group can be seen as a wholesale attack on the <a href="/wiki/Stereotype" title="Stereotype">entire position or group</a>. Thus, people often engage in the balance fallacy not out of any true belief that both flaws that they are mentioning are equal, but rather out of a desire to avoid <i><a href="/wiki/Tu_quoque" title="Tu quoque">tu quoque</a></i> attacks. This then often backfires and results in accusations of being a <a href="/wiki/Concern_troll" title="Concern troll">concern troll</a>. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Broderism">Broderism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Broderism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <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>All such arguments boil down to saying that half a loaf is the same as no bread.</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/George_Orwell" title="George Orwell">George Orwell</a> on Broderism sixty years before Broderism.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[17]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <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>the wise man bowed his head solemnly and spoke: "theres [sic] actually zero difference between good & bad things. you imbecile. you fucking moron"</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">—dril<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[18]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In political <a href="/wiki/Journalism" title="Journalism">journalism</a>, a similar phenomenon often referred to as "<b>Broderism</b>," after the late David Broder, former senior editor at the <i><a href="/wiki/Washington_Post" class="mw-redirect" title="Washington Post">Washington Post</a></i>. It is often said that there is no single scandal, no matter how overwhelmingly <a href="/wiki/Partisan" title="Partisan">partisan</a>, that he couldn't find some instance of the other party doing something maybe, kind of, almost close to being in the ballpark of the same thing, so that every thing wrong in <a href="/wiki/Washington,_DC" class="mw-redirect" title="Washington, DC">Washington</a> is the fault of both parties. An example of Broderism would be that, while many <a href="/wiki/Republican" class="mw-redirect" title="Republican">Republican</a> elected officials have embraced <a href="/wiki/Birtherism" class="mw-redirect" title="Birtherism">Birtherism</a> wholeheartedly, these one or two <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Party" title="Democratic Party">Democratic</a> supporters are <a href="/wiki/9/11_truthers" class="mw-redirect" title="9/11 truthers">9/11 truthers</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[19]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[20]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[note 4]</a></sup> so each party is equally crazy. </p><p>Broderism is in full force, for instance, in Republicans drawing a false equivalence between Trump and Biden both having secret papers in their homes. Never mind that Trump had many more, he took them deliberately, lied about not having them, refused to turn them all in and the government got them back only after executing a subpoena—<b>and</b> the not-insignificant chance that he shared the contents of some of those secret government documents with foreign nationals. Just the fact that Biden also had some secret documents in his home is enough for MAGA types to crow about how what he did was <i>just as bad</i> so he should be arrested and <s>executed</s> prosecuted just like Trump. </p><p>On <a href="/wiki/Fark" title="Fark">Fark</a>, similar arguments are referred to as "BSABSVR," short for "Both Sides Are Bad, So Vote Republican." </p><p>There is an old joke in journalism: "As Mr. <a href="/wiki/Hitler" class="mw-redirect" title="Hitler">Hitler</a> would say…" The joke is that you can't do even a story about how horrible the Holocaust is without including Hitler's viewpoint, in the name of balance. </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=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Argumentum_ad_populum" title="Argumentum ad populum">Argumentum ad populum</a></i> — a logical fallacy that occurs when something is considered to be true or good solely because it is popular</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Countless_counterfeits_fallacy" title="Countless counterfeits fallacy">Countless counterfeits fallacy</a> — assuming that if there's lots of bad evidence for something, there's also some good evidence</li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_dilemma" title="False dilemma">False dilemma</a> — spuriously rejecting the existence of options or 'balance' beyond a pair of extremes</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nutpicking" title="Nutpicking">Nutpicking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pommer%27s_Law" class="mw-redirect" title="Pommer's Law">Pommer's Law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teach_the_controversy" title="Teach the controversy">Teach the controversy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fox_News" title="Fox News">Fox News</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Two_wrongs_don%27t_make_a_right" class="mw-redirect" title="Two wrongs don't make a right">Two wrongs don't make a right</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Penultimate_paragraph_syndrome" title="Penultimate paragraph syndrome">Penultimate paragraph syndrome</a></li></ul> <h3><span id="Want_to_read_this_in_another_language?"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Want_to_read_this_in_another_language.3F">Want to read this in another language?</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Want to read this in another language?">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p><a href="/wiki/File:Lang-fa.gif" class="image"><img alt="Lang-fa.gif" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Lang-fa.gif/40px-Lang-fa.gif" decoding="async" width="35" height="23" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Lang-fa.gif/60px-Lang-fa.gif 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Lang-fa.gif/120px-Lang-fa.gif 2x" data-file-width="540" data-file-height="360" /></a> |<a href="/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%81%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%87%E2%80%8C%DB%8C_%D8%AD%D8%AF_%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7" title="سفسطه‌ی حد وسط">سفسطه‌ی حد وسط</a> in Farsi </p> <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=Balance_fallacy&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li>See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_ground" class="extiw" title="wp:Middle ground" rel="nofollow">Middle ground</a>.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://xkcd.com/690/">"Semicontrolled Demolition"</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=470">Giving "equal time" to people who believe the </a><a href="/wiki/Sun" title="Sun">sun</a> is hot and cold</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGArqoF0TpQ&feature=relmfu">Both Sides!</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://skepdic.com/pseudosymmetry.html">Pseudosymmetry (Of Scientific Authority)</a> in <a href="/wiki/The_Skeptic%27s_Dictionary" title="The Skeptic's Dictionary">The Skeptic's Dictionary</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/01/15/blinded-by-science-how-balanced-coverage-lets-the-scientific-fringe-hijack-reality/">Blinded by Science: How "Balanced" Coverage Lets the Scientific Fringe Hijack Reality</a>, Chris Mooney</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2010/09/20/206752/jay-rosen-on-climate-science-reporting-journalism/">Jay Rosen on why climate science reporting is so bad</a>, Joe Romm</li> <li>Boykoff, Maxwell T. and Jules M. Boykoff. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/publications/downloads/boykoff04-gec.pdf">Balance as bias: Global warming and the US prestige press.</a> Global Environmental Change 14 (2004) 125–136. (So much for the <a href="/wiki/Liberal_media" title="Liberal media">liberal media</a>.)</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060706154150/http://www.cuyamaca.net/bruce.thompson/Fallacies/falsecompromise.asp">False Compromise</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070807073330/http://www.cuyamaca.net/bruce.thompson/Fallacies/middleground.asp">The Middle Ground Fallacies</a>, Bruce Thompson</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/sciencetoolkit_04">Understanding Science - Beware of false balance (Berkeley)</a>Bruce Thompson</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/middle-ground.html">Middle ground</a>, <a href="/wiki/Nizkor_Project" title="Nizkor Project">Nizkor Project</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/middle-ground">Your logical fallacy is middle ground</a>, <a href="/wiki/YLFI" class="mw-redirect" title="YLFI">YLFI</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://puzzlewocky.com/philosophical-puzzles/fallacies/the-horrible-bosses-2-fallacy/">The Horrible Bosses 2 fallacy</a></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=Balance_fallacy&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-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">This argument in particular not only contains a fallacy but flawed premises as well. The extreme pro-gay position would be to allow <i>only</i> gay couples to marry. Thus, marriage equality <i>is</i> the "moderate" position. Of course, this is still a fallacy, using that argument to support equal rights is flawed as well.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">A position held by <a href="/wiki/Ben_Shapiro" title="Ben Shapiro">Ben Shapiro</a>, among others.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[14]</a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">It's worth noting that C-SPAN, unlike other networks, still has a mandate to broadcast politically-balanced programming, but this only applies to alternative opinions, not alternative facts.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">We say "supporter" since every Democratic <a href="/wiki/Congress" class="mw-redirect" title="Congress">Congressperson</a> who's expressed Truther beliefs has either changed their opinion or (justly) been hounded out of office by now.</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=Balance_fallacy&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="https://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/08/22/homeopathy-and-quacks-versus-science">Homeopathy and quacks versus science</a>, <a href="/wiki/Respectful_Insolence" title="Respectful Insolence">Respectful Insolence</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHVVKAKWXcg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHVVKAKWXcg</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="https://twitter.com/DougJBalloon/status/1688290042530209792">Whether it’s Jimmy Carter seeking donations to build orphanages, or Donald Trump raising funds to pay the lawyers defending him against multiple criminal indictments, presidents of both parties have spent their post-White House years asking the public for money.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190805114334/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/opinion/both-sides-now.html">Paul Krugman, "Both sides now?", <i>The New York Times</i>, Jul. 18, 2016, accessed Sep. 16, 2019.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Ornstein, Norm, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/the-eight-causes-of-trumpism/422427/">"The 8 Causes of Trumpism"</a>, 1.4.16.</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="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/the-awkward-clinton-era-debate-over-dont-ask-dont-tell/381374/">The Awkward Clinton-Era Debate Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'</a>, The Atlantic, Oct 2014</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 free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a</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 free" href="https://www.quora.com/Why-is-communism-not-banned-in-most-countries-if-nazism-is">https://www.quora.com/Why-is-communism-not-banned-in-most-countries-if-nazism-is</a></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 free" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/trump-statement-alt-right-protests/index.html">https://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/trump-statement-alt-right-protests/index.html</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Undue_weight" class="extiw" title="wp:Wikipedia:Undue weight" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia Policy: Undue weight</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fringe_theories" class="extiw" title="wp:Wikipedia:Fringe theories" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia Policy: Fringe theories</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 text" href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/imaginary-grownups/">So says Mr. Krugman</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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OwFSLm4pII">Bill Maher lays waste to Global Warming deniers (YouTube)</a>. <i>Maher</i>: "That's the problem with our obsession to always see two sides of every issue equally… It means we have to pretend there are always two truths, and the side that doesn't know anything has something to say."</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="https://youtu.be/hbTwoLah2VY?t=335">DEBATE: Ben Shapiro & Blaire White</a>, <i>Blaire White</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35346-2005Mar14.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35346-2005Mar14.html</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=i2mdwmpLYLY#t=119">https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=i2mdwmpLYLY#t=119</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150413235101/http://georgeorwellnovels.com/essays/the-lion-and-the-unicorn-socialism-and-the-english-genius/">The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">wint (June 1, 2014). <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://twitter.com/dril/status/473265809079693312?lang=en">[1]</a> <i>Twitter</i>. Retrieved August 29, 2019.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.infowars.com/cynthia-mckinney-compares-911-truthers-with-civil-rights-activists-at-benefit/">Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) compares 9/11 Truthers with Civil Rights Activists at Benefit</a>, <i>InfoWars</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://911truthnews.com/what-the-hell-mike-gravel/">What the hell, Mike Gravel (D-AK)?</a>, <i>911TruthNews</i></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/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/Anecdotal_evidence" title="Anecdotal evidence">Anecdotal evidence</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=Balance_fallacy&oldid=2725389">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Balance_fallacy&oldid=2725389</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div 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