Time for another #FallacyFriday! Every week, Oliver Diaz Neda will post a logical fallacy and an example to help you all become better debaters, persuaders and rational thinkers. What is a logical fallacy? It is defined as – a flaw in the structure of an argument which renders the argument invalid.
Today’s fallacy
False Cause or “cherry picking”
False Cause fallacies are the lifeblood of politics. Notice how everyone always has “facts” that support their particular view. Cherry picking occurs when one choses favorable data out of a much larger data set solely because it supports their view, even when the preponderance of data supports a different conclusion.
Example:
Ted
The economy has never been worse. This President has destroyed the American dream!
Bill
How could you even pretend that things are not better now than in 2009?
Ted
More people are on food stamps than ever, families are earning less, the debt has skyrocketed, Americans can’t find good paying jobs and our kids are graduating with thousands in debt!
Bill
That is all true, but…. there has been private sector job growth for a record 70 months, unemployment was cut in half, the deficit has lowered by 2/3, net job growth is more than both Bush presidencies combined, the stock market hit all time highs, corporate earnings are at historic highs, there are 5 million job openings, America is almost energy independent, gas prices are down 40%, the dollar is strong, the financial system is solid and we went from -8% growth in 2009 to 2.1% growth in 2015. That is not an improvement?
Ted is obviously, and likely purposefully, painting a negative picture by choosing to only use facts that support his position. The macro-data would support the opposite of his assertion. Ted is being an ass. Don’t be like Ted. No one likes Ted.
