Logical Fallacy of Unwarranted Extrapolation

Unwarranted extrapolation is one of the many smokescreens that are used to cover the fact that the reasoning is based on one of the three fallacies of Agrippa's trilemma. Whenever a logical fallacy is committed, the fallacy has its roots in Agrippa's trilemma. All human thought (without Divine revelation) is based on one of three unhappy possibilities. These three possibilities are infinite regression, circular reasoning, or axiomatic thinking. This problem is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Some have claimed that only logic and math can be known without Divine revelation; however, that is not true. Without Divine revelation, neither logic nor math can be known. Science is also limited to the pragmatic because of the weakness on human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma.

The logical fallacy of unwarranted extrapolation occurs when known facts related to one set of circumstances are used to make predictions or judgments about another set of circumstances, but either too much weight is given to the extrapolation or the extrapolation goes beyond what is reasonable.

Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Unwarranted Extrapolation

Bill Nye arguing against Creation science: “You can go to sea shores where there is sand. This is what geologists on the outside do, study the rate at which soil is deposited at the end of rivers and deltas, and we can see that it takes a long, long time for sediments to turn to stone.”

1. “study the rate at which soil is deposited at the end of rivers and deltas,” It seems that Bill Nye probably got mixed up in his notes and actually meant to make two separate points. One is that, at present, deposits are made slowly. The other is that rocks take a long time to form if there is no sudden burial. As far as the concept that sediments are laid down slowly, Bill Nye is using the logical fallacy of circular reasoning. He is assuming that there was no flood (uniformitarianism), and, based on this assumptions, he is using the logical fallacy of unwarranted extrapolation, extrapolating the current rates back into the supposed billions of years. When he has so extended the numbers back in this way, he uses that same unwarranted extrapolation to prove his original presupposition, that there is no flood. That is question-begging, also known as circular reasoning.
2. “we can see that it takes a long, long time for sediments to turn to stone.” Bill Nye is using the logical fallacy of stacking the deck, sometimes called cherry-picking evidence or omitting evidence. At the end of streams, rock does take a long time to form. However, under certain conditions, rock forms quickly.
3. “geologists on the outside” This is the continuing attempt to make the concept of creation seem as if it is isolated to Ken Ham and the Creation Museum. First, this is an implied outright lie. Very few Americans believe in pure naturalism/atheism, so this is a logical fallacy of misused statistics. And the lie is told to facilitate a fallacy of bandwagon. How could a majority opinion affect reality. In fact, God doesn't seem to work with the majority.
4. More importantly, Bill Nye is contradicting what God says through divine revelation. Are we supposed to take Bill Nye's and his followers' opinions based on assumptions instead of believing God?  It is no great surprise that Bill is unable to make this contradiction in a logical way. You cannot logically prove an untruth. But, you can be pretty tricky and fool a lot of people with fallacies.

• http://creation.com/Speedy-stone-from-sand-to-rock
• http://creation.com/focus-172
• http://creation.com/rapid-stalactites
• http://creation.com/search?q=flood%20rock%20layers
• http://www.answersingenesis.org/search/?q=flood+rock+layers&search=Go
• http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v21/n1/sandy-surprise