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Logical  Fallacy: a error in reasoning
  (adj)     (noun)

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Below is the statement as it appears with the fallacy marked as correct. You can see the totals of most frequent responses to this statement. And after reading the any discussion going on below, you can select your choice(s) for the correct answer. For now, whoever posts each statement can update corrections.
I don't think that there will be a nuclear war. If I believed that, I wouldn't be able to get up in the morning. I mean, how depressing.
Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief
Argumentum Ad Consequentium

Category: Fallacies of Relevance (Red Herrings) → Distracting Appeals

The Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief is a fallacy that comes in the following patterns:

#1: X is true because if people did not accept X as being true, then there would be negative consequences.
#2: X is false because if people did not accept X as being false, then there would be negative consequences.

#3: X is true because accepting that X is true has positive consequences.
#4: X is false because accepting that X is false has positive consequences.

#5: I wish that X were true, therefore X is true. This is known as Wishful Thinking.
#6: I wish that X were false, therefore X is false. This is known as Wishful Thinking.

This line of "reasoning" is fallacious because the consequences of a belief have no bearing on whether the belief is true or false. For example, if someone were to say "If sixteen-headed purple unicorns don't exist, then I would be miserable, so they must exist", it would be clear that this would not be a good line of reasoning. It is important to note that the consequences in question are the consequences that stem from the belief. It is important to distinguish between a rational reason to believe (RRB) (evidence) and a prudential reason to believe (PRB) (motivation). A RRB is evidence that objectively and logically supports the claim. A PRB is a reason to accept the belief because of some external factor (such as fear, a threat, or a benefit or harm that may stem from the belief) that is relevant to what a person values but is not relevant to the truth or falsity of the claim. The nature of the fallacy is especially clear in the case of Wishful thinking. Obviously, merely wishing that something is true does not make it true. This fallacy differs from the Appeal to Belief fallacy in that the Appeal to Belief involves taking a claim that most people believe that X is true to be evidence for X being true.

Click For Fallacy Description

 1,465 Total Answer Attempts   62%
 915 Correctly Popped Fallacies
 550 Incorrectly Un/Popped
( Random Image )

Most Common Responses

 
915 - Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief
70 - Appeal to Fear
53 - Appeal to Emotion
40 - False Dilemma
31 - Appeal to Pity
25 - Confusing Cause and Effect
24 - Appeal to Belief
24 - Slippery Slope
21 - Relativist Fallacy
17 - Begging the Question
16 - Biased Generalization
16 - Gambler's Fallacy
15 - Red Herring
14 - Post Hoc
14 - Misleading Vividness
14 - Special Pleading
13 - Ignoring a Common Cause
12 - Burden of Proof
11 - Hasty Generalization
11 - Poisoning the Well
11 - Appeal to Popularity
11 - Fallacy of Division
10 - Appeal to Ridicule
8 - Fallacy of Composition
8 - Guilt by Association
8 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem
7 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
7 - Middle Ground
7 - Ad Hominem
6 - Appeal to Spite
5 - Genetic Fallacy
5 - Appeal to Authority
4 - Appeal to Novelty
4 - Appeal to Tradition
3 - Appeal to Common Practice
2 - Peer Pressure
2 - Personal Attack
1 - Appeal to Flattery

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* Fallacious statements are usually paired with a random image of a person who never spoke those words.
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