Saturday, January 05, 2013

Noncentral Fallacy

Less Wrong claims that the noncentral fallacy is the worst argument in the world:
I declare the Worst Argument In The World to be this: "X is in a category whose archetypal member gives us a certain emotional reaction. Therefore, we should apply that emotional reaction to X, even though it is not a central category member."

Call it the Noncentral Fallacy. ...

"Abortion is murder!"
"Genetic engineering to cure diseases is eugenics!"
"Evolutionary psychology is sexist!"
"Capital punishment is murder!"
"Taxation is theft!"
"Affirmative action is racist!"
He is right, but it is convenient to give an argument in 3 words.

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