Heres a fallacy we see in just about every important political speech. What they do is provide *anecdotal evidence* with the presumption that the one occurrence represents a general rule. Anecdotes have some validity, but they are often presented as proof of a much more general sort. Examples: Willie Horton was released from prison, and subsequently committed heinous crimes. Thus, people who are released from prison will commit more crimes. A quote from Michele Bachman is given, and its not the smartest thing she ever said. Thus, conservatives are not smart. The conclusions could possibly be true, but the anecdotes, by themselves, are very flimsy proof of the conclusions. The arguments would be much stronger if many other examples could be cited. The more examples you can present, the stronger case you make. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 14:04:51 +0000
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