FALLACIES

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER FALLACY

&
FALSE DICHOTOMY

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER FALLACY

This informal fallacy is also known as the

Clustering Illusion.

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TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY
This fallacy occurs when someone jumps to

the conclusion that a cluster in some data

must be the result of a cause, usually one that
it is clustered around. There are two reasons
why this is fallacious:
1. The cluster may well be the result of
chance, in which case it was not caused by
anything.
2. Even if the cluster is not the result of
chance, there are other possible reasons
for the clustering, other than the cause
chosen. For instance, if a disease is

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY
At best, the occurrence of a cluster in the

data is the basis not for a causal

conclusion, but for the formation of a
causal hypothesis which needs to be
tested. Patterns in data can be useful for
forming hypotheses, but they are not
themselves sufficient evidence of a causal
connection. In short, correlation is not
causation.
You can avoid this fallacy by forming
hypothesis prior to gathering data, and by

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY
NOTABLE EXAMPLE:

Nostradamus correctly predicted nearly 500 years ago

the death of President John F. Kennedy, the French
Revolution, the reign of Hitler, and the 9-11 Attacks. He
must be a true prophet.

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY
NOTABLE EXAMPLE:
Nostradamus correctly predicted nearly 500 years
ago the death of President John F. Kennedy, the French
Revolution, the reign of Hitler, and the 9-11 Attacks.
He must be a true prophet.
This statement is fallacious because it frames
Nostradamus to be a prophet based on a few
predictions he may have gotten right when in reality
he has written almost 1000 other predictions, most of
them too vague or ambiguous to make sense. When
we ignore this fact, the statement appears to be very

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY
OTHER EXAMPLE:

On her reality television show, Kim Kardashian and

her family regularly go through exciting situations.
Surely, they lead exciting lives.

TEXAS SHARPSHOOTER
FALLACY
OTHER EXAMPLE:
On her reality television show, Kim Kardashian and
her family regularly go through exciting situations.
Surely, they lead exciting lives.
This statement is also fallacious because it follows
that the Kim Kardashian and her family must lead
exciting lives based on their reality television show. In
reality, these kinds of shows have the practice of
condensing their highlight footage to fit an hours
time. While we can say that they could be leading
exciting lives, we should consider other factors in

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY
This informal fallacy is also known as the

False Dilemma, False Dichotomy, or fallacy

of the Excluded Middle.
It is committed when one presents two

(often extreme) alternative states as the

only possibilities, when it is not the case; it
follows an either youre with me, or
against me format when there are really
more alternatives.

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY

Black-or-White fallacy is fallacious because it

fails to recognize that in certain situations, it

is possible to have more than two outcomes
maybe states beyond the two or inbetween the two, or even neither or both
states.

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY
There are exceptions:
There may be cases when the number of

options really is limited.

They only have chocolate and vanilla left.
Chocolate or vanilla - which would you like?
There are also the other valid uses of the or

connective.
Either the Falcons win or Blue Jays win in tonights
basketball game. The Falcons did not win. Therefore,
the Blue Jays won.

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY

You can avoid this fallacy by seeing to it that you are

not overlooking alternatives to choices you have

listed. Consider the following:
Is it possible that there are other options other than the

two? Is there a category in between the two?

Can both my options be false or both my options be true?
Are they mutually exclusive of each other? Are they truly
opposites of each other?

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY
EXAMPLES:
There are some things money cant buy. For
everything else, theres MASTERCARD.
This slogan was part of a 1997 campaign for
MasterCard. It follows in this statement that either
things cant be bought with money or things can
be bought with MasterCard. Logically, it is
fallacious because it presents the two options as
being the only two options when really, there
are more than the two.

BLACK-OR-WHITE FALLACY
EXAMPLES:

She doesnt love the music of Kanye West. She must hate
it.
This statement presents the options that she can either love
or hate Kanye Wests music. It is fallacious because the
options presented fail to distinguish that people can be
neutral or indifferent as well.

SOURCES:
http://weknowmemes.com/generator/uploads/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma
generated/g13803078943910203.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter
http://www.baconcoma.com/wp-content/uploads/
_fallacy
2014/05/either-you-like-bacon-or-your-wrong.
http://www.nizkor.org
jpg
http://www.logicallyfallacious.com
http://www.sabinabecker.com/media/with-us-orhttps://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
against-us.jpg
http://rationalwiki.org
http://i.imgur.com/Tfb0GLb.jpg
http://onegoodmove.org
https://
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/
theocult.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/dichotom
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/09/11/the-t
y.gif
exas-sharpshooter-fallacy
/
http://skepdic.com/texas.html
http://
www.philosophy-index.com/logic/fallacies
http://
writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/reason2d
.html
youtube.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterCard