Fallacy of Multiplication

The fallacy of multiplication 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 regress, 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. There is no reason to trust either logic or math without Divine revelation. Science is also limited to the pragmatic because of the weakness on human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma.

The Fallacy of Multiplication occurs when extra non-causes are included in the actual causes.

Examples of the Fallacy of Multiplication

Bill Nye arguing against Creation science: “If we continue to eschew science, eschew the process, and try to divide science into observational science and historic science, we are not going to move forward, we’ll not embrace natural laws, we’ll not make discoveries, we’ll not invent and innovate and stay ahead.”

It is probably true that we might stop inventing, innovating, and staying ahead if we were to eschew the scientific process. However, knowing the difference between historical and observational science involves knowing the difference between creative imagination and observation. It would seem that that might actually help inventing, innovating, and staying ahead to be able to know the difference between make-believe and reality. Bill added this extra cause. He also added a cause that he called “eschewing science.” Looking at the bulk of Bill’s talk, he was on both sides of the issue of challenging scientific traditions. On the one hand, he said that challenging old ideas is what science is all about. Then, he made remarks like this one in which he defines “science” as the process and the old ideas, and he defines “eschewing science” as challenging old ideas. Every scientific breakthrough happens because someone challenges old ideas. But Bill was really only talking about the old idea of the sacred cow known as the Big-Bang-Billions-of-Years-No-Flood-Molecules-to-Man story.