How to Coach Yourself and Others Beware of Manipulation | Page 55

Fallacy of composition
Assuming that something true of part of a whole must also be true of the whole.
Fallacy of division
Assuming that something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts.
False dilemma (false dichotomy, fallacy of bifurcation, black-or-white fallacy)
Two alternative statements are held to be the only possible options, when in reality there are more.
If-by-whiskey
An argument that supports both sides of an issue by using terms that are selectively emotionally
sensitive.
Fallacy of many questions (complex question, fallacy of presupposition, loaded question, plurium
interrogationum)
Someone asks a question that presupposes something that has not been proven or accepted by all the
people involved. This fallacy is often used rhetorically, so that the question limits direct replies to those
that serve the questioner's agenda.
Ludic fallacy
The belief that the outcomes of a non-regulated random occurrences can be encapsulated by a statistic;
a failure to take into account unknown unknowns in determining the probability of an event's taking
place.
Fallacy of the single cause (causal oversimplification)
It is assumed that there is one, simple cause of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by
a number of only jointly sufficient causes.
False attribution
An advocate appeals to an irrelevant, unqualified, unidentified, biased or fabricated source in support
of an argument.
Fallacy of quoting out of context (contextomy)
Refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original context in a way that distorts the source's
intended meaning.
Argument to moderation (false compromise, middle ground, fallacy of the mean)
Assuming that the compromise between two positions is always correct.
Gambler's fallacy
The incorrect belief that separate, independent events can affect the likelihood of another random
event. If a coin flip lands on heads 10 times in a row, the belief that it is "due to land on tails" is
incorrect.
Historian's fallacy
Occurs when one assumes that decision makers of the past viewed events from the same perspective
and having the same information as those subsequently analyzing the decision. (Not to be confused
with presentism, which is a mode of historical analysis in which present-day ideas, such as moral
standards, are projected into the past.)
Homunculus fallacy
Where a "middle-man" is used for explanation, this sometimes leads to regressive middle-man.
Explanations without actually explaining the real nature of a function or a process. Instead, it explains

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