Fallacies in Reasoning
The fallacies people use in their reasoning are almost limitless. In particular, those who promote the paranormal and other unproven extraordinary claims tend to resort routinely to logical fallacies to support their beliefs. That’s not to say that self-styled paranormal “experts” are being deliberately dishonest (though some of them might be), but more likely that they do not know why their arguments to support paranormal claims have no logical basis. Like everyone else, they assume that they can think logically; unfortunately, that belief is false. Well meaning sincerity does not equal truth. (And the fact that someone states something that is false does not imply that he or she is telling lies.)
Paradoxically, if those who claim to be experts in the paranormal really did understand logic, then they would understand why their arguments supporting or defending their beliefs were illogical. However, they won’t be reasoned out of a belief they weren’t reasoned into in the first place.
For those who do not have any formal training in logic, the fallacious arguments they are faced with from unqualified (and sometimes even qualified) “experts” often seem to have a certain “believability” about them because the underlying fallacy is not always immediately obvious. Sometimes the fallacy is so subtle it can be difficult to work out exactly what the fallacy is. This section of Bad Thinking will detail examples of fallacious argument, why they are fallacious and will give links to posts that discuss them. It will grow as various claims of the paranormal, supernatural etc., come under scrutiny.
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