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What fallacy is this:

Boiled eggs are great. I'll bet boiled salmon would be great, too.

asked
User Wachr
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1 Answer

1 vote

Final answer:

While the statement about boiled eggs and salmon does not clearly fall under a specific logical fallacy, it could be considered a hasty generalization. This is because it concludes the likely goodness of boiled salmon based on the premise that boiled eggs are great, without proper evidence.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement 'Boiled eggs are great. I'll bet boiled salmon would be great, too.' does not clearly contain a classic logical fallacy; however, it might be construed as a hasty generalization if one assumes that because boiled eggs are great, all boiled things would be great without adequate evidence. Nonetheless, this inference seems more like a casual guess rather than a logical argument meant to convince, and therefore might not constitute a formal fallacy at all.

A hasty generalization is a fallacy of weak induction that occurs when a conclusion is drawn from an inadequate sample. In contrast, a biased sample fallacy comes from using evidence that is selectively or unfairly presented. Looking at your examples, applying the biased sample might steer someone to believe one meal's quality at a restaurant dictates the quality of all meals, which ignores the possibility of variability (e.g., differences in breakfast vs. dinner service).

answered
User Mike Elkins
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7.6k points
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