Articles Index

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Excess Verbiage
This is less a flaw in the reasoning process than a flaw in the argument or deliberation process. Just because too many words have been expended on explaining an idea or position doesn't mean that there is either anything wrong with the conclusion or with the process which led a person to that conclusion. It is, however, a barrier to communicating these ideas to others.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Unskilled and Unaware
Being mistaken about something is not by itself a flaw in a person's reasoning process, and neither is being unskilled when it comes to constructing and analyzing logical arguments. Where a flaw does occur, however, is in the fact that the worse a person is at such tasks, the less likely they are to realize it, the more likely they are to overestimate their abilities, and the less likely they are to realize that others' efforts are superior.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Barnum Effect & Gullibility
A common reference point as to why people believe the advice of psychics and astrologers - not to mention many other nice things said about them - is the 'Barnum Effect.' Named after P.T. Barnum, the Barnum Effect is based upon his famous saying 'There's a sucker born every minute.'

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Black & White Thinking
Human beings have a strong need to categorize everything; this is not a fault but rather an asset. Without our ability to take isolated instances, gather them together in groups, and then make generalizations, we wouldn't have math, language, or even the ability for coherent thought. Without an ability to generalize from the specific to the abstract, you wouldn't be able to read and understand this right now. Nevertheless, as much of vital asset as it is, it can still be taken too far.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Pedantry
Very often, debates become embroiled over what appear to be very minor issues. Sometimes this may be appropriate and sometimes it may not - when it is not, there is a strong possibility that no further productivity will occur in the discussion. When someone moves a discussion into an inappropriate and unproductive focus on minor issues, he can be accused of pedantry.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Repetition
Sometimes, people seem to think that the more they repeat an idea, the more likely it is that someone else will believe it. In other words, they are trying to convince people of something not based upon reasons or evidence, but instead upon sheer repetition. But why do some think that such a tactic will work?

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Sophistry
An argument which appears to be quite valid but is in reality invalid is one which suffers from any of a number of fallacies or other flaws. We should expect to see this sort of thing because most people do not reason very well and no one reasons perfectly. Fallacious arguments, then, are natural - but what is not so natural is to offer fallacious and flawed arguments deliberately. When that happens, we call it sophistry.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Vagueness
Generally speaking, the best arguments also tend to be the more precise arguments. Precision in arguments is an important step in making them more coherent, more comprehensible, and free from flaws. Precision means that both the arguer and the listener are able to develop a better grasp of what the argument says and means. It follows, then, that vagueness in an enemy of sound arguments.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Wishful Thinking & Rationalization
It seems unlikely that, for anyone alive today, the world is exactly the way they wish it would be in every detail. Because there is discordance between what is the case and what we wish the case would be, we all engage at some point in time in wishful thinking: the desire that our situation be something other than it really is.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Anecdotal Evidence & Testimonials
Whenever we offer an empirical claim as true, we are expected to support that claim with evidence - pieces of information which, when taken together, tend to point to the truth of our claim. Evidence which proves our claim is best, but not absolutely required. Naturally, when searching for evidence one of the first sources we look to is our own experience in the world, because it is typically that experience which we rely upon most heavily when trying to understand reality.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Avoiding the Question
When trying to make a case for some position or idea, we frequently encounter questions which challenge the coherency or validity of that position. When we are able to adequately answer those questions, our position becomes stronger. When we cannot answer the questions, then our position is weaker. If, however, we avoid the question altogether, then our reasoning process itself is revealed as possibly weak.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias occurs when we selectively notice or focus upon evidence which tends to support the things we already believe or want to be true while ignoring that evidence which would serve to disconfirm those beliefs or ideas. Confirmation bias plays a stronger role when it comes to those beliefs which are based upon prejudice, faith, or tradition rather than on empirical evidence.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Economy with the Truth
Everyone wants to be right - this is a truism which hardly seems to need repeating, but it is a vital motive which does need to be addressed. Our participation in debates and discussions is often predicated upon this motive - we want to learn what is right, we want to convince others that we are right, and/or we we want to get others to believe the same correct things we already believe. Unfortunately, this motive can also lead us to engage in practices which are not entirely proper.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Self-Deception
If deception is the process of misleading others in order to get them to accept something as true even when it is false, then self-deception is the process of misleading yourself so that you will accept something as true even when you should acknowledge that it is false.

Flaws in Reasoning and Arguments: Subjective Validation
Subjective Validation is also sometimes called the 'personal validation effect' because it refers to a process by which people accept some claim or phenomenon as valid based solely upon a few personal experiences and/or subjective perception. In practice, this error is cited when a person perceives two independent events as having some sort of deeper, hidden relationship because of that person's prior beliefs, expectations or hypotheses about the world.