Topic: Knowledge
Errors in using evidence or information outside the scope in which it was established, such as applying group-level statistics to individuals or transferring findings across incompatible contexts.
| Fallacy | Trigger – look for … |
|---|---|
| Epistemic fallacy | Knowledge (or its absence) is equated with existence: “we have no evidence for X, therefore X does not exist” – or only what is measurable/knowable is regarded as real, and the limits of knowledge are treated as the limits of reality. |
| Argument from ignorance | A conclusion about a claim's truth or existence is drawn from the absence of evidence for or against it – i.e., the burden of proof is reversed (e.g., “no one has disproven X, so X is true”; “no one has proven X, so X is false”; “no complaints, so all is well”). |
| Ecological fallacy | A statistical indicator (average, rate, share) valid for a group or population as a whole is transferred to a lower level (subgroup or individual) – as if the group-level figure applied to the parts. |
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