Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy: Difference between revisions

Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy (view source)

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 === Example ===
-''"In my dream today, God appeared, and since something must exist for it to visit me, God exists"''
+Let's say a person is considering a new diet plan and comes across anecdotal evidence from a friend:
-The dream's depiction of a god could simply be a component of the dream, which is completely anecdotal—this could have been made up to support this person's argument. Since the premise is anecdotal, it is impossible to infer its veracity. This is is an example of the anecdotal evidence fallacy.
+Friend: "I started a new diet where I only eat one type of fruit every day, and I've lost a significant amount of weight in just a week!"
+Instead of seeking more comprehensive and scientifically validated information on the effectiveness of various diet plans, the person decides to follow the same fruit-only diet based solely on their friend's anecdotal evidence. It would be better for the person to attribute a lower weight to the anecdotal evidence provided (as per '''Figure 1''') and move up a step to larger studies of the wider populace.
 == How to counter the Anecdotal Evidence Fallacy. ==