I hate logical fallacies, and too often people unknowingly use them to make an argument. Sometimes I understand them, like a slippery slope argument, but the rationale is more emotional than logical. Here is a directory of logical fallacies, all of which should be banned.

Ad Antiquitatem – (Appeal to Tradition) Maintaining the status quo for it’s own sake.

Ad Baculum – (Appeal to Force/Fear) A threat of violence or similar punishment, like jail time, to prove a point.

Ad Hominem – (Appeal to Person) Attacking the person rather than the argument.

Ad Ignorantium – (Appeal to Ignorance) A lack of evidence against something is proof of something.

Ad Populum – (Appeal to Common Belief) If most people believe it, it must be true.

Ad Verecundiam – (Appeal to Authority) An expert says it’s true, therefore it’s true. This is especially problematic when the expert is an expert in an unrelated field.

Appeal to Emotion – If it feels good, it must be true.

Appeal to Nature – If it’s natural, it must be good.

Begging the Question – (Circular Reasoning) The conclusion is identical to the premise. It begs the question: Where did this logical path originate?

Composition – Properties of an object’s individual elements transfer to the object itself.

Division – An object’s individual elements posses the properties of the original object.

Equivocation – One word with two definitions is used without differentiating between the two definitions.

False Dilemma/Dichotomy – There are only two choices when, in reality, there are more than two choices.

Faulty Analogy – If two things are like each other in some aspects, they are like each other in all aspects.

Genetic – To say something’s origins determine it’s nature. The most common of which is Godwin’s law.

Hasty Generalization – Assuming a small sample size is indicative of all cases.

No True Scotsman – The redefinition of a word to fit an argument.

Red Herring – A rapid and subtle shift to an irrelevant topic.

Slippery Slope – Saying that one thing will progress to another, more extreme step.

Straw Man – Oversimplifying the argument, then attacking that instead of the original argument.

Gambler’s Fallacy – Related to probability, the idea that previous outcomes of a truly random event influences future outcomes. Comes in many forms, such as thinking numbers are due, or hot.

Atkinson Fallacy – The views of those who actually care about the issue all lean in one direction, therefore they should be ignored.

Freudian Fallacy – The idea that the way one thinks is shared among all people.

Hipster’s Fallacy – If something/idea is not very popular, it must be good/true.

Appeal to God – God never intended this to happen, therefore it shouldn’t. God can be interchangeable with any divinity, including Mother Nature.