The World’s Largest Coalition of Nontheists and Nontheist Communities!

No Nonsense

Information

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

Members: 342
Latest Activity: 2 hours ago

6 members like this

"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

Chat #NoNonsense

"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

Discussion Forum

View All

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of No Nonsense to add comments!

Comment by sacha on September 9, 2010 at 10:37pm: US stem cell funding freeze lifted – for now

Comment by sacha on September 9, 2010 at 3:28am: Clearly I know absolutely nothing about the Gregory Koger/Sunsara Taylor incident, so I'm keeping quiet.

Comment by sacha on September 9, 2010 at 3:26am: Christopher Hitchens showed plenty of spunk and energy in a debate ...

Superman.

Comment by George on September 8, 2010 at 11:58pm: @ Christopher
"comment number 56 by Doctorlogic"

Dr. Logic does not give any sources, and starts out with the statement, "from what I hear". So this judgement is being based on hearesay?

He's also using loaded language ("heavies" and "sinister"). Perhaps he's justified in using this language, but I'd certainly need to more than the word of somebody's blog comment.

Note: He "assumes" Koger had a jury trial - so it's not like he's even following the case very closely.

Comment by Zero_6ix on September 8, 2010 at 5:54pm: Oh snap, that's right! And she's all about research too! AND ALL BRAIN DAMAGE IS AUTISM! My mind! She is blown!

Comment by Zero_6ix on September 8, 2010 at 3:30pm: Science did that yesterday, didn't it? Yes, yes they did.
Shut up Jenny McCarthy.

Comment by sacha on September 8, 2010 at 1:21pm: Have a good time Christopher, say hello to the wife.

Comment by Christopher on September 8, 2010 at 8:16am: Which is one of the reasons I love this group. I'd forgotten to add, I'm going out of town for about a week. My wife has yet to go to Gruene Hall or the Alamo, and those are absolute requirements for citizenship here, so away we go.

Comment by Christopher on September 8, 2010 at 8:12am: I usually read Ed Brayton's Dispatches From The Culture Wars blog as well, just because it touches on politics and the law much more frequently, but Ed has a huge achilis heal when it comes to law enforcement related issues, frequently goes off half cocked on issues he just doesn't know anything about, and I've bitch slapped him about three or four times. By "bitch slapped" I mean, I compared his post to those by people who push intelligent design and make themselves look like idiots because they just don't know anywhere near enough about evolution to construct an informed opinion on it. It hasn't swayed Ed, though. He just, evidently, has some irrational blind spot in that area. So I'm used to it from Ed, but when PZ did it, my jaw hit the floor. WTF?? Made me wonder if PZ's not all the way back to full function, from the meds and the recent surgery. You dont really need to research anything that much before posting it here, because if the issue needs slapping around, these fuckers round here will bitch slap it in a heartbeat.

Comment by sacha on September 8, 2010 at 2:07am: You guys are great

I had not heard about the Gregory Koger incident until I saw PZ's post yesterday. I was hoping that someone would have more information, since I had not had the time to do any research.

Thanks for clarifying. The way PZ makes it sound, is not at all like the reality.

Thank you for pointing out comment #56, Christopher.

I really should have done my homework before I posted it. It was a spur of the moment thing. I'm sorry for the lack of critical thinking.
The logical fallacy was argument from authority and I should have known better.

The information is appreciated.

cheers