the gambler's fallacy(Believing that 'runs'occur to statisticallyindependentphenomena such asroulette wheel spins.)appeal to nature(Making theargument thatbecause somethingis 'natural' it istherefore valid,justified, inevitable,good, or ideal.)special pleading(Moving thegoalposts ormaking upexceptions when aclaim is shown tobe false.)burden of proof(Saying that theburden of proof liesnot with the personmaking the claim,but with someoneelse to disprove.)ambiguity(Using doublemeanings orambiguities oflanguage to misleador misrepresent thetruth.)begging thequestion(A circularargument in whichthe conclusion isincluded in thepremise.)appeal to emotion(Manipulating anemotionalresponse in placeof a valid orcompellingargument.)strawman(misrepresentargument)no true scotsman(Making what couldbe called an appealto purity as a way todismiss relevantcriticisms or flaws ofan argument.)anecdotal(Using personalexperience or anisolated exampleinstead of a validargument, especiallyto dismiss statistics.)(the fallacy fallacy)Presuming thatbecause a claim hasbeen poorly argued,or a fallacy has beenmade, that the claimitself must be wrong.genetic(Judgingsomething good orbad on the basisof where it comesfrom, or fromwhom it comes.)composition/division(Assuming thatwhat's true aboutone part ofsomething has tobe applied to all, orother, parts of it.)loaded question(Asking a questionthat has apresumption built intoit so that it can't beanswered withoutappearing guilty.)bandwagon(Appealing topopularity or the factthat many people dosomething as anattempted form ofvalidation.)middle ground(Saying that acompromise, ormiddle point,between twoextremes is thetruth.)slippery slope(Asserting that if weallow A to happen,then Z willconsequently happentoo, therefore Ashould not happen.)personal incredulity(Saying thatbecause one findssomething difficultto understand thatit's therefore nottrue.)tu quoque(Avoiding having toengage with criticismby turning it back onthe accuser -answering criticismwith criticism.)black-or-white(Where twoalternative states arepresented as the onlypossibilities, when infact more possibilitiesexist.)false cause(Presuming that areal or perceivedrelationship betweenthings means thatone is the cause ofthe other.)(the texassharpshooter)Cherry-picking dataclusters to suit anargument, or findinga pattern to fit apresumption.cherrypicking(when an argumenthighlights evidencethat supports itsconclusion whileignoring significantevidence to thecontrary)appeal to authority(Saying thatbecause anauthority thinkssomething, it musttherefore be true.)the gambler's fallacy(Believing that 'runs'occur to statisticallyindependentphenomena such asroulette wheel spins.)appeal to nature(Making theargument thatbecause somethingis 'natural' it istherefore valid,justified, inevitable,good, or ideal.)special pleading(Moving thegoalposts ormaking upexceptions when aclaim is shown tobe false.)burden of proof(Saying that theburden of proof liesnot with the personmaking the claim,but with someoneelse to disprove.)ambiguity(Using doublemeanings orambiguities oflanguage to misleador misrepresent thetruth.)begging thequestion(A circularargument in whichthe conclusion isincluded in thepremise.)appeal to emotion(Manipulating anemotionalresponse in placeof a valid orcompellingargument.)strawman(misrepresentargument)no true scotsman(Making what couldbe called an appealto purity as a way todismiss relevantcriticisms or flaws ofan argument.)anecdotal(Using personalexperience or anisolated exampleinstead of a validargument, especiallyto dismiss statistics.)(the fallacy fallacy)Presuming thatbecause a claim hasbeen poorly argued,or a fallacy has beenmade, that the claimitself must be wrong.genetic(Judgingsomething good orbad on the basisof where it comesfrom, or fromwhom it comes.)composition/division(Assuming thatwhat's true aboutone part ofsomething has tobe applied to all, orother, parts of it.)loaded question(Asking a questionthat has apresumption built intoit so that it can't beanswered withoutappearing guilty.)bandwagon(Appealing topopularity or the factthat many people dosomething as anattempted form ofvalidation.)middle ground(Saying that acompromise, ormiddle point,between twoextremes is thetruth.)slippery slope(Asserting that if weallow A to happen,then Z willconsequently happentoo, therefore Ashould not happen.)personal incredulity(Saying thatbecause one findssomething difficultto understand thatit's therefore nottrue.)tu quoque(Avoiding having toengage with criticismby turning it back onthe accuser -answering criticismwith criticism.)black-or-white(Where twoalternative states arepresented as the onlypossibilities, when infact more possibilitiesexist.)false cause(Presuming that areal or perceivedrelationship betweenthings means thatone is the cause ofthe other.)(the texassharpshooter)Cherry-picking dataclusters to suit anargument, or findinga pattern to fit apresumption.cherrypicking(when an argumenthighlights evidencethat supports itsconclusion whileignoring significantevidence to thecontrary)appeal to authority(Saying thatbecause anauthority thinkssomething, it musttherefore be true.)

the fallacy game! - Call List

(Print) Use this randomly generated list as your call list when playing the game. There is no need to say the BINGO column name. Place some kind of mark (like an X, a checkmark, a dot, tally mark, etc) on each cell as you announce it, to keep track. You can also cut out each item, place them in a bag and pull words from the bag.


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  1. the gambler's fallacy (Believing that 'runs' occur to statistically independent phenomena such as roulette wheel spins.)
  2. appeal to nature (Making the argument that because something is 'natural' it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good, or ideal.)
  3. special pleading (Moving the goalposts or making up exceptions when a claim is shown to be false.)
  4. burden of proof (Saying that the burden of proof lies not with the person making the claim, but with someone else to disprove.)
  5. ambiguity (Using double meanings or ambiguities of language to mislead or misrepresent the truth.)
  6. begging the question (A circular argument in which the conclusion is included in the premise.)
  7. appeal to emotion (Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument.)
  8. strawman (misrepresent argument)
  9. no true scotsman (Making what could be called an appeal to purity as a way to dismiss relevant criticisms or flaws of an argument.)
  10. anecdotal (Using personal experience or an isolated example instead of a valid argument, especially to dismiss statistics.)
  11. (the fallacy fallacy) Presuming that because a claim has been poorly argued, or a fallacy has been made, that the claim itself must be wrong.
  12. genetic (Judging something good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it comes.)
  13. composition/division (Assuming that what's true about one part of something has to be applied to all, or other, parts of it.)
  14. loaded question (Asking a question that has a presumption built into it so that it can't be answered without appearing guilty.)
  15. bandwagon (Appealing to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.)
  16. middle ground (Saying that a compromise, or middle point, between two extremes is the truth.)
  17. slippery slope (Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will consequently happen too, therefore A should not happen.)
  18. personal incredulity (Saying that because one finds something difficult to understand that it's therefore not true.)
  19. tu quoque (Avoiding having to engage with criticism by turning it back on the accuser - answering criticism with criticism.)
  20. black-or-white (Where two alternative states are presented as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.)
  21. false cause (Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the cause of the other.)
  22. (the texas sharpshooter) Cherry-picking data clusters to suit an argument, or finding a pattern to fit a presumption.
  23. cherrypicking (when an argument highlights evidence that supports its conclusion while ignoring significant evidence to the contrary)
  24. appeal to authority (Saying that because an authority thinks something, it must therefore be true.)