Spotting bad arguments
Spotting bad arguments: a chapter of the Thinking Clearly Book, with the mind traps and tricks that are worth knowing by name.
10 cards · Science
Each Zap teaches up to 5 new cards, so you learn the deck a few at a time.
Checked by the Brain Zap team · reviewed 26 Oct 2026
Sources: List of cognitive biases (Wikipedia), Fallacy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Preview
Attacking the person instead of their argument
Show answerHide answer: Attacking the person instead of their argument
Ad hominem
Learn more: Whether an argument holds up doesn't depend on who makes it.
Twisting someone's view into an easier one to attack
Show answerHide answer: Twisting someone's view into an easier one to attack
Straw man
Learn more: Restate the other side's view in a way they'd agree with before you argue against it.
Offering only two options when there are more
Show answerHide answer: Offering only two options when there are more
False dilemma
Learn more: Real choices usually have middle ground, or several other options.
Claiming one small step will lead to disaster
Show answerHide answer: Claiming one small step will lead to disaster
Slippery slope
Learn more: Each step in the chain needs its own evidence; one change doesn't automatically lead to the worst case.
Two things happen together, so one must cause the other
Show answerHide answer: Two things happen together, so one must cause the other
Confusing correlation with causation
Learn more: A third factor, like hot weather, can drive both; only careful tests show what causes what.
About this topic
A fallacy is an argument that sounds convincing but doesn't hold up. Some attack the person instead of the point, some twist the other side's view, and some squeeze a complicated choice into just two options. You'll hear them in ads, debates, comment sections and family dinners, and naming them is the first step to answering them calmly. Nobody is immune, experts included, but knowing the names makes the traps much easier to notice, in yourself as well as in others.
This is a chapter of the Thinking Clearly Book. Each card asks one question, with a hint before you answer and a short reason after. Once you know most of this chapter, the next one starts arriving in your Daily Zap.
All 10 cards
Attacking the person instead of their argument
Ad hominem
Learn more: Whether an argument holds up doesn't depend on who makes it.
Twisting someone's view into an easier one to attack
Straw man
Learn more: Restate the other side's view in a way they'd agree with before you argue against it.
Offering only two options when there are more
False dilemma
Learn more: Real choices usually have middle ground, or several other options.
Claiming one small step will lead to disaster
Slippery slope
Learn more: Each step in the chain needs its own evidence; one change doesn't automatically lead to the worst case.
Two things happen together, so one must cause the other
Confusing correlation with causation
Learn more: A third factor, like hot weather, can drive both; only careful tests show what causes what.
Changing the subject to distract from the point
Red herring
Learn more: The new topic may be interesting, but it doesn't answer the original question.
Using the conclusion as its own proof
Circular reasoning
Learn more: An argument has to rest on something other than the claim it is trying to prove.
'An expert said so', about a field that isn't theirs
Appeal to authority
Learn more: Experts are worth hearing in their own field; outside it, their word is no better than anyone's.
Natural must mean good, and artificial bad
Appeal to nature
Learn more: Many natural things are harmful and many lab-made ones save lives; judge by the evidence.
Who has to back up a claim
The person making it
Learn more: 'Prove me wrong' isn't evidence: the bigger the claim, the stronger the evidence it needs.
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