BOISE, ID – A new logical fallacy has been discovered by the pro-science/skeptic community: the logical fallacy of using logical fallacies. Many logical fallacies are used by the anti-vaccine cult on a daily basis: the appeal to authority, the burden of proof, anecdotal, ad hominem, just to name a few.
It appears as though the anti-vaccers themselves have now discovered these fallacies and are turning them around on science.
Whenever a debate takes place between pro-science and anti-vaccine zealots in a comment section, more and more anti-vaccers are turning to logical fallacies. They accuse the pro-vaccers of using appeal to authority when they cite any reputable source, insist that it is actually the science side which has the burden of proof to prove all vaccines are safe, and argue that simply calling them “anti-vaccers” or “conspiracy theorists” is an ad hominem attack.
Another logical fallacy which the anti-vaccers have turned on its head is the strawman argument (misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack). They claim that the pro-science side of the debate is making them out to be something they are not: 100% against vaccines. They claim by saying this, the pro-vaccine side is using a strawman argument against them. They are not 100% against vaccines, they are simply “pro safe-vaccine”.
It is no surprise that the anti-science crowd has got most, if not all, of the logical fallacies completely wrong.
Here is a great graphic (click to enlarge):
How many of these have you seen?
