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The "false equivalence" is not considering the difference in likelihood. Consuming heroin is more likely to lead to future heroin dependence than taking marijuana, even given the assumption that one who begins using marijuana is more likely at some later time to try heroin, than someone who has never
296:
alse equivalencies are developing on a grand scale as a result of relentlessly negative news. If everything and everyone is portrayed negatively, there's a leveling effect that opens the door to charlatans. The press historically has helped citizens recognize the difference between the earnest
76:, when equivalence is not necessarily the logical result. False equivalence is a common result when an anecdotal similarity is pointed out as equal, but the claim of equivalence does not bear scrutiny because the similarity is based on
55:
in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. Colloquially, a false equivalence is often called "comparing
505:
640:
779:
277:
False equivalence arguments are often used in journalism and in politics, where flaws of one politician may be compared to flaws of a wholly different nature of another.
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spilled 210 million US gal (790 million L) of oil; one's neighbor might spill perhaps 1 US pt (0.47 L).
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are both fruits, and there are seeds in both apples and oranges, then since they both contain seeds, apples and oranges are equal.
766:
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39:
Apples and oranges are both similar-sized seeded fruits that grow on trees, but that does not make the two interchangeable.
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The "false equivalence" is in an oversimplification of the factors that make an animal a suitable pet.
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is no more harmful than when your neighbor drips some oil on the ground when changing his car's oil."
703:
641:"Welcome to the maddening world of false equivalence journalism (from a climate reporter who knows)"
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902:
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The "false equivalence" is the comparison between things differing by many orders of magnitude:
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863:
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726:
32:, also known as false equivalence, a fallacy asserting that the truth is between two extremes.
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This fallacy is committed when one shared trait between two subjects is assumed to show
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or ignorance of additional factors. The pattern of the fallacy is often as such:
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704:"News Coverage of the 2016 General Election: How the Press Failed the Voters"
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495:"Felid phylogenetics: extant taxa and skull morphology (Felidae, Aeluroidea)"
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22:
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politician and the pretender. Today's news coverage blurs the distinction.
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is not required to exist in both sets; merely a similarity of two items
1683:
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780:"This Is Not Equal To That: How False Equivalence Clouds Our Judgment"
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This article is about the logical fallacy. For the media term, see
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can lead to consuming and acquiring a psychological dependence on
822:
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288:
wrote about the false equivalency used by the media during the
257:
243:
231:
205:
The following statements are examples of false equivalence:
462:
On Scene
Coordinator Report on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
531:"Cat or Lion: Differences Between Wild and Domestic Cats"
371:
The
Purposeful Argument: A Practical Guide, Brief Edition
675:"The False Equivalence of Clinton and Trump's Negatives"
282:
Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
238:, therefore there's little difference between having a
549:"Distinguishing Cougars, Bobcats, and Domestic Cats"
373:(Second ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 129.
1829:
368:
150:is cited to assert equivalence among the sets.
931:Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise
936:Negative conclusion from affirmative premises
806:
396:
264:, so taking marijuana is like taking heroin."
820:
571:"Fallacies and the Evaluation of Reasoning"
568:
369:Phillips, Harry; Bostian, Patricia (2014).
813:
799:
767:"False Equivalence: Why It's So Dangerous"
764:
1514:
698:
486:
454:
430:
428:
426:
424:
1667:
669:
638:
392:
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290:2016 United States presidential election
34:
724:
607:
474:from the original on September 15, 2012
272:
1830:
777:
765:Wunderlich, Annelise (June 13, 2019).
492:
421:
397:Edward Webber, ed. (August 16, 2013).
794:
387:
725:Ferrell, Jason (February 15, 2021).
564:
562:
124:In an even more fallacious version,
535:Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center
511:from the original on April 18, 2017
434:
13:
778:Sarkis, Stephanie (May 19, 2019).
718:
613:"The Falsity of False Equivalence"
63:
14:
1854:
758:
639:Phillips, Ari (August 26, 2016).
559:
1812:
1811:
575:American Philosophical Quarterly
569:Finocchiaro, Maurice A. (1981).
191:
179:
16:Logical fallacy of inconsistency
692:
663:
632:
553:Department of Natural Resources
108:, then since they both contain
1309:Correlation implies causation
601:
541:
523:
362:
1:
355:
260:later in life by acting as a
7:
301:
165:
10:
1861:
1733:I'm entitled to my opinion
743:10.1007/s43545-021-00070-4
467:(Report). September 2011.
27:
20:
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1589:
1505:
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1240:
1176:
1151:
1123:
1088:
1038:
992:
983:
921:
887:
843:
834:
502:American Museum Novitates
1759:Motte-and-bailey fallacy
859:Affirming the consequent
308:Affirming the consequent
280:Thomas Patterson of the
28:Not to be confused with
1779:Two wrongs make a right
1110:Denying the correlative
1764:Psychologist's fallacy
1701:Argument to moderation
1691:Argument from anecdote
1641:Chronological snobbery
1265:Quoting out of context
1232:Overwhelming exception
1115:Suppressed correlative
1015:Quoting out of context
890:quantificational logic
864:Denying the antecedent
727:"On moral equivalence"
611:(September 16, 2016).
493:Salles, L. O. (1992).
435:Bennett, Robert "Bo".
299:
163:
122:
100:is the set containing
88:is the set containing
40:
30:argument to moderation
1727:The Four Great Errors
1707:Argumentum ad populum
1696:Argument from silence
1400:Argumentum ad baculum
1178:Faulty generalization
869:Argument from fallacy
294:
155:
82:
38:
1745:Invincible ignorance
1551:Reductio ad Stalinum
1537:Reductio ad Hitlerum
1493:Wisdom of repugnance
1260:Moving the goalposts
1125:Illicit transference
1050:Begging the question
971:Undistributed middle
879:Mathematical fallacy
854:Affirming a disjunct
702:(December 7, 2016).
700:Patterson, Thomas E.
555:. State of Michigan.
537:. February 16, 2017.
441:Logically Fallacious
273:Negative consequence
1478:Parade of horribles
1454:In-group favoritism
1280:Syntactic ambiguity
923:Syllogistic fallacy
846:propositional logic
437:"False Equivalence"
399:"False Equivalence"
173:Orders of magnitude
1838:Informal fallacies
1564:Poisoning the well
1381:Proof by assertion
1356:Texas sharpshooter
1290:Questionable cause
1227:Slothful induction
1186:Anecdotal evidence
1046:Circular reasoning
941:Exclusive premises
903:Illicit conversion
731:SN Social Sciences
708:Shorenstein Center
618:The New York Times
350:Wronger than wrong
286:Harvard University
159:apples and oranges
78:oversimplification
74:order of magnitude
58:apples and oranges
41:
1825:
1824:
1803:
1802:
1799:
1798:
1739:Ignoratio elenchi
1651:
1650:
1501:
1500:
1463:Not invented here
1168:Converse accident
1090:Correlative-based
1067:Compound question
1010:False attribution
1005:False equivalence
979:
978:
673:(June 22, 2016).
671:Buchanan, Neil H.
333:List of fallacies
221:Deepwater Horizon
212:Deepwater Horizon
49:false equivalency
45:false equivalence
1850:
1815:
1814:
1786:Special pleading
1665:
1664:
1526:Appeal to motive
1512:
1511:
1488:Stirring symbols
1468:Island mentality
1406:Wishful thinking
1387:
1386:
1103:Perfect solution
1080:No true Scotsman
1075:Complex question
1060:Leading question
1039:Question-begging
1025:No true Scotsman
990:
989:
913:Quantifier shift
908:Proof by example
841:
840:
815:
808:
801:
792:
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787:
774:
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712:
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696:
690:
689:
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685:
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660:
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647:. Archived from
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479:
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458:
452:
451:
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447:
432:
419:
418:
416:
414:
405:. Archived from
403:Truly Fallacious
394:
385:
384:
366:
195:
183:
149:
145:
138:
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127:
119:
115:
111:
107:
103:
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95:
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72:, especially in
53:informal fallacy
1860:
1859:
1853:
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1828:
1827:
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1821:
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1769:Rationalization
1712:
1659:
1647:
1585:
1507:Genetic fallacy
1497:
1410:
1385:
1360:
1284:
1275:Sorites paradox
1255:False precision
1236:
1217:Double counting
1172:
1147:
1119:
1084:
1071:Loaded question
1055:Loaded language
1034:
975:
917:
883:
830:
819:
761:
721:
719:Further reading
716:
715:
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412:
410:
409:on May 14, 2019
395:
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268:used marijuana.
226:"They are both
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64:Characteristics
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1599:Accomplishment
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1351:Slippery slope
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1270:Slippery slope
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1198:
1196:Cherry picking
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759:External links
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651:on May 9, 2017
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1459:Invented here
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1223:
1222:False analogy
1220:
1218:
1215:
1213:
1209:
1206:
1202:
1199:
1197:
1194:
1193:
1192:
1191:Sampling bias
1189:
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1181:
1179:
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1169:
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1154:Secundum quid
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1128:
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1099:
1098:False dilemma
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995:
991:
988:
986:
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967:
966:Illicit minor
964:
962:
961:Illicit major
959:
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695:
680:
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646:
642:
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620:
619:
614:
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609:Krugman, Paul
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19:
1754:Naturalistic
1737:
1725:
1705:
1676:
1660:of relevance
1603:
1581:Whataboutism
1573:
1549:
1543:Godwin's law
1535:
1515:
1398:
1391:Consequences
1372:Law/Legality
1346:Single cause
1319:
1312:
1152:
1020:Loki's Wager
1004:
1000:Equivocation
993:Equivocation
783:
770:
734:
730:
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694:
684:February 17,
682:. Retrieved
678:
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655:February 17,
653:. Retrieved
649:the original
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262:gateway drug
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1774:Red herring
1531:Association
1212:Conjunction
1133:Composition
1030:Reification
946:Existential
898:Existential
252:"Consuming
70:equivalence
1832:Categories
1750:Moralistic
1684:Sealioning
1678:Ad nauseam
1605:Ipse dixit
1517:Ad hominem
1341:Regression
1143:Ecological
956:Four terms
874:Masked man
478:August 10,
356:References
242:and a pet
120:are equal.
1843:Fallacies
1791:Straw man
1669:Arguments
1658:fallacies
1632:Tradition
1622:Etymology
1594:Authority
1575:Tu quoque
1559:Bulverism
1329:Gambler's
1298:Animistic
1242:Ambiguity
1208:Base rate
951:Necessity
823:fallacies
751:234324904
737:(2): 64.
587:0003-0481
515:April 17,
339:Tu quoque
313:Apophenia
254:marijuana
236:Carnivora
214:oil spill
198:Oil spill
186:Oil stain
153:Example:
1817:Category
1449:Ridicule
1434:Flattery
1424:Children
1321:Post hoc
1201:McNamara
1163:Accident
1138:Division
985:Informal
679:Newsweek
595:20013887
506:Archived
504:(3047).
469:Archived
302:See also
166:Examples
1636:Novelty
1611:Poverty
1473:Loyalty
1439:Novelty
1416:Emotion
1365:Appeals
1334:Inverse
1314:Cum hoc
1303:Furtive
821:Common
240:pet cat
232:mammals
228:Felidae
146:in set
135:in set
1721:Cliché
1656:Other
1627:Nature
1615:Wealth
1250:Accent
836:Formal
784:Forbes
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645:Fusion
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258:heroin
244:jaguar
96:, and
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1483:Spite
1377:Stone
747:S2CID
591:JSTOR
509:(PDF)
498:(PDF)
472:(PDF)
465:(PDF)
209:"The
1569:Tone
1444:Pity
1429:Fear
827:list
771:KQED
686:2017
657:2017
626:2017
583:ISSN
517:2017
480:2018
448:2018
415:2017
375:ISBN
139:and
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