Question 1

Logical Fallacy:
John: I think we should hire someone to redesign our website.
Lola: You're saying we should throw our money away on external resources instead of building up our in-house design team? That's going to hurt our company in the long run.

Accepted Answer

The Straw-Man Fallacy
This fallacy occurs when your opponent over-simplifies or misrepresents your argument (i.e., setting up a "straw man") to make it easier to attack or refute.

Question 2

Logical Fallacy:
The majority of people believe advertisers should spend more money on billboards, so billboards are objectively the best form of advertisement.

Accepted Answer

The Bandwagon Fallacy
Just because a significant population of people believe a proposition is true, doesn't automatically make it true. Popularity alone is not enough to validate an argument.

Question 3

Logical Fallacy:
Despite the fact that our Q4 numbers are much lower than usual, we should push forward using the same strategy because our CEO Barbara says this is the best approach.

Accepted Answer

The Appeal-to-Authority Fallacy
While appeals to authority are by no means always fallacious, they can become dangerous when you rely too heavily on the opinion of a single person, especially if that person is invested in the result.

Question 4

Logical Fallacy:
We can either agree with Barbara's plan, or just let the project fail. There is no other option.

Accepted Answer

The False-Dilemma Fallacy (or False-Binary)
This common fallacy misleads by presenting complex issues in terms of two simple, inherently opposed sides instead of acknowledging that most issues can be thought of on a spectrum of possibilities.

Question 5

Logical Fallacy:
Two members of my team have become more engaged employees after taking public speaking classes. That proves we should have mandatory public speaking classes for the whole company to improve employee engagement.

Accepted Answer

The Hasty-Generalization Fallacy
This fallacy occurs when someone draws expansive conclusions based on insufficient evidence. In other words, they jump to conclusions about the validity of a proposition with some, but not enough, evidence.

Question 6

Logical Fallacy:
Even though every project Brad has managed in the last two years has run way behind schedule, I still think we can chalk it up to unfortunate circumstances, not his project management skills.

Accepted Answer

The Slothful-Induction Fallacy
Slothful induction is the inverse of the hasty-generalization fallacy. This fallacy occurs when sufficient logical evidence strongly indicates a particular conclusion is true, but someone refuses to acknowledge it.

Question 7

Logical Fallacy:
Our blog views were down in April. We also changed the color of our blog header in April. Changing the color of the blog header led to less views in April.

Accepted Answer

The Correlation/Causation Fallacy
If two things appear to be correlated, this doesn't necessarily indicate that one of those things irrefutably caused the other thing. Margarine use and divorce rate in Maine correlate extremely well.

Question 8

Logical Fallacy:
One of our clients doubled their conversions after changing all their landing page text to bright red. Therefore, changing all text to red is a proven way to double conversions.

Accepted Answer

The Anecdotal-Evidence Fallacy
In place of logical evidence, this fallacy substitutes examples from someone's personal experience. Arguments that rely on anecdotal evidence can overlook the fact that one (possibly isolated) example may not be repeatable.

Question 9

Logical Fallacy:
Lisa sold her first startup to an influential tech company, so she must be a successful entrepreneur. (She ignores the fact that four of her startups have failed since then.)

Accepted Answer

The Texas-Sharpshooter Fallacy
This fallacy gets its colorful name from an anecdote about a Texan who fires his gun at a barn wall, and then proceeds to paint a target around the closest cluster of bullet holes. He then points to the target as proof.

Question 10

Logical Fallacy:
Lola thinks the best way to improve conversions is to redesign the entire company website, but John is firmly against making any changes to the website. Therefore, the best approach is to redesign some portions of the website.

Accepted Answer

The Middle-Ground Fallacy
This fallacy assumes that a compromise between two extreme conflicting points is always true or a good solution. It's possible that one or both of the extremes true, false or a better solution than compromise.

Question 11

Logical Fallacy:
Barbara believes the marketing agency's office is haunted, since no one has ever proven that it isn't haunted.

Accepted Answer

The Burden-of-Proof Fallacy
If a person claims that X is true, it is their responsibility to provide evidence in support of that assertion. It is invalid to claim that X is true until proven false, or X is false until proven true.

Question 12

Logical Fallacy:
I don't understand how redesigning our website resulted in more conversions, so there must have been another factor at play.

Accepted Answer

The Personal-Incredulity Fallacy
If you have difficulty understanding how or why something is true, that doesn't automatically mean the thing in question is false. A personal or collective lack of understanding isn't enough to render a claim invalid.

Question 13

Logical Fallacy:
John: No marketer would put two call-to-actions on a single landing page.
Barb: Lola, a marketer, found great success with two call-to-actions on the landing page in our last campaign. 
John: Obviously, Lola's not a true marketer.

Accepted Answer

The "No True Scotsman" Fallacy
Often used to protect assertions that rely on universal generalizations (like "all Marketers love pie") this fallacy inaccurately deflects counterexamples to a claim by changing the positioning or conditions of the original

Question 14

Logical Fallacy:
Lola: I don't think John would be a good fit to manage this project, because he doesn't have a lot of project management experience.
John: Neither do you!

Accepted Answer

The Tu Quoque Fallacy
(Latin for "you also") is an invalid attempt to discredit an opponent by answering criticism with criticism -- but never actually presenting a counterargument to the original disputed claim.

Question 15

Logical Fallacy:
John's argument in favor of redesigning the company website clearly relied heavily on cherry-picked statistics in support of his claim, so Lola decided that redesigning the website must not be a good decision.

Accepted Answer

The Fallacy-Fallacy
Here's something vital to keep in mind when sniffing out fallacies: just because someone's argument relies on a fallacy doesn't necessarily mean that their claim is inherently untrue. It might be true, notwithstanding the fallacy.

Logical Fallacies

Examples of Logical Fallacies

Question	Answer
Logical Fallacy: John: I think we should hire someone to redesign our website. Lola: You're saying we should throw our money away on external resources instead of building up our in-house design team? That's going to hurt our company in the long run.	The Straw-Man Fallacy This fallacy occurs when your opponent over-simplifies or misrepresents your argument (i.e., setting up a "straw man") to make it easier to attack or refute.
Logical Fallacy: The majority of people believe advertisers should spend more money on billboards, so billboards are objectively the best form of advertisement.	The Bandwagon Fallacy Just because a significant population of people believe a proposition is true, doesn't automatically make it true. Popularity alone is not enough to validate an argument.
Logical Fallacy: Despite the fact that our Q4 numbers are much lower than usual, we should push forward using the same strategy because our CEO Barbara says this is the best approach.	The Appeal-to-Authority Fallacy While appeals to authority are by no means always fallacious, they can become dangerous when you rely too heavily on the opinion of a single person, especially if that person is invested in the result.
Logical Fallacy: We can either agree with Barbara's plan, or just let the project fail. There is no other option.	The False-Dilemma Fallacy (or False-Binary) This common fallacy misleads by presenting complex issues in terms of two simple, inherently opposed sides instead of acknowledging that most issues can be thought of on a spectrum of possibilities.
Logical Fallacy: Two members of my team have become more engaged employees after taking public speaking classes. That proves we should have mandatory public speaking classes for the whole company to improve employee engagement.	The Hasty-Generalization Fallacy This fallacy occurs when someone draws expansive conclusions based on insufficient evidence. In other words, they jump to conclusions about the validity of a proposition with some, but not enough, evidence.
Logical Fallacy: Even though every project Brad has managed in the last two years has run way behind schedule, I still think we can chalk it up to unfortunate circumstances, not his project management skills.	The Slothful-Induction Fallacy Slothful induction is the inverse of the hasty-generalization fallacy. This fallacy occurs when sufficient logical evidence strongly indicates a particular conclusion is true, but someone refuses to acknowledge it.
Logical Fallacy: Our blog views were down in April. We also changed the color of our blog header in April. Changing the color of the blog header led to less views in April.	The Correlation/Causation Fallacy If two things appear to be correlated, this doesn't necessarily indicate that one of those things irrefutably caused the other thing. Margarine use and divorce rate in Maine correlate extremely well.
Logical Fallacy: One of our clients doubled their conversions after changing all their landing page text to bright red. Therefore, changing all text to red is a proven way to double conversions.	The Anecdotal-Evidence Fallacy In place of logical evidence, this fallacy substitutes examples from someone's personal experience. Arguments that rely on anecdotal evidence can overlook the fact that one (possibly isolated) example may not be repeatable.
Logical Fallacy: Lisa sold her first startup to an influential tech company, so she must be a successful entrepreneur. (She ignores the fact that four of her startups have failed since then.)	The Texas-Sharpshooter Fallacy This fallacy gets its colorful name from an anecdote about a Texan who fires his gun at a barn wall, and then proceeds to paint a target around the closest cluster of bullet holes. He then points to the target as proof.
Logical Fallacy: Lola thinks the best way to improve conversions is to redesign the entire company website, but John is firmly against making any changes to the website. Therefore, the best approach is to redesign some portions of the website.	The Middle-Ground Fallacy This fallacy assumes that a compromise between two extreme conflicting points is always true or a good solution. It's possible that one or both of the extremes true, false or a better solution than compromise.
Logical Fallacy: Barbara believes the marketing agency's office is haunted, since no one has ever proven that it isn't haunted.	The Burden-of-Proof Fallacy If a person claims that X is true, it is their responsibility to provide evidence in support of that assertion. It is invalid to claim that X is true until proven false, or X is false until proven true.
Logical Fallacy: I don't understand how redesigning our website resulted in more conversions, so there must have been another factor at play.	The Personal-Incredulity Fallacy If you have difficulty understanding how or why something is true, that doesn't automatically mean the thing in question is false. A personal or collective lack of understanding isn't enough to render a claim invalid.
Logical Fallacy: John: No marketer would put two call-to-actions on a single landing page. Barb: Lola, a marketer, found great success with two call-to-actions on the landing page in our last campaign. John: Obviously, Lola's not a true marketer.	The "No True Scotsman" Fallacy Often used to protect assertions that rely on universal generalizations (like "all Marketers love pie") this fallacy inaccurately deflects counterexamples to a claim by changing the positioning or conditions of the original
Logical Fallacy: Lola: I don't think John would be a good fit to manage this project, because he doesn't have a lot of project management experience. John: Neither do you!	The Tu Quoque Fallacy (Latin for "you also") is an invalid attempt to discredit an opponent by answering criticism with criticism -- but never actually presenting a counterargument to the original disputed claim.
Logical Fallacy: John's argument in favor of redesigning the company website clearly relied heavily on cherry-picked statistics in support of his claim, so Lola decided that redesigning the website must not be a good decision.	The Fallacy-Fallacy Here's something vital to keep in mind when sniffing out fallacies: just because someone's argument relies on a fallacy doesn't necessarily mean that their claim is inherently untrue. It might be true, notwithstanding the fallacy.

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