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No Nonsense

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Anti-pseudoscience, anti-woo, pro science, pro critical thinking, no conspiracy theories, no spin. Count the logical fallacies. No Nonsense!

Members: 342
Latest Activity: on Sunday

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"Keep an open mind – but not so open that your brain falls out" -unknown

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." -- Carl Sagan

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence." -- Christopher Hitchens

What is a logical fallacy? All arguments have the same basic structure: A therefore B. They begin with one or more premises (A), which is a fact or assumption upon which the argument is based. They then apply a logical principle (therefore) to arrive at a conclusion (B). An example of a logical principle is that of equivalence. For example, if you begin with the premises that A=B and B=C, you can apply the logical principle of equivalence to conclude that A=C. A logical fallacy is a false or incorrect logical principle. An argument that is based upon a logical fallacy is therefore not valid. It is important to note that if the logic of an argument is valid then the conclusion must also be valid, which means that if the premises are all true then the conclusion must also be true. Valid logic applied to one or more false premises, however, leads to an invalid argument. Also, if an argument is not valid the conclusion may, by chance, still be true. For a more thorough discussion of logical fallacies and how to structure a logical argument, see the New England Skeptical Society's article, How To Argue.

Top 20 Logical Fallacies (in alphabetical order) taken from -

The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe

The New England Skeptical Society The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe Science-Based Medicine
The James Randi Educational Foundation
Propaganda
snopes.com
Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
Simon Singh and his fight to mend British libel laws
Professor Richard Wiseman
PZ Myers' Pharyngula
Dr. Phil Plait and Bad Astronomy
Skeptic Blog
Michael Shermer's Baloney Detection Kit
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
The Skeptics' Dictionary
List of cognitive biases
Don Watson - Weasel Words
QuackWatch
A List of Fallacious Arguments

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"No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others."

-- Deepak Chopra (yes, he actually said that)

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but That's funny..." -Isaac Asimov

The scientific world view is full of awe and wonder. Understanding how truly awesome the universe is – in its elegant complexity, its staggering beauty, and the many intricate systems of which it is comprised – gives a profound feeling of connectedness and sparks the imagination. And it has the advantage of being real. -Steven Novella

The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance. How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again.
— Mark Twain

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Comment by Shamar on November 22, 2009 at 4:54pm: The Earth is Flat! And Other False Beliefs Based on Dogma and Pseudoscience that Stress the Need for Critical Thinking
http://bit.ly/RuUcx

Comment by Фелч Гроган on November 22, 2009 at 4:57am: @Mymelody - "Bioidential hormones" are what this charlatan peddles from this antivax video posted by Homeoboy

Comment by Ida on November 22, 2009 at 3:10am: Nice to see a group like this on AN. It is very much needed.

Comment by Meg on November 22, 2009 at 3:00am: Excellent! I think my professor of "Why People Believe Weird Things" would love this group.

Comment by sacha on November 21, 2009 at 10:10pm: here you are, Daniel

now get on with your work debunking the woo!

Comment by Sentient Biped on November 21, 2009 at 10:03pm: I feel left out. My favorite cartoon was Rocky & Bullwinkle. But I'll get over it, since there is a preponderance of scoobyphilia here and we all have to compromise for the greater good.

Comment by Фелч Гроган on November 21, 2009 at 9:23pm: As promised to the first 50 members here's your FREE Obama birth certificate (click to enlarge) -

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Comment by Glenn Sogge on November 21, 2009 at 7:53pm: ->felch: The best way to handle "specific nonsense angles" would be to deconstruct specific documents or posts to show the tools in use. (I think this is called 'fisking' now on the interwebs.) Are there some major documents (in the sense of important or canonical, not length) that we could do this on? Or maybe we post/link something and ask for a detailed working out of what's wrong?

Comment by Glenn Sogge on November 21, 2009 at 7:43pm: A useful video to learn from and to pass along to others that could be helped by it is the RDF TV Baloney Detection Kit by Michael Shermer that's been here for awhile.