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Logical Fallacy of Ambiguity Effect |
Logical Fallacy of Ambiguity EffectThe Logical Fallacy of Ambiguity Effect occurs when several options are given, but most are left with an ambiguous description. The tendency is to consider the more carefully explained options and to dismiss the ones that seem ambiguous. Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Ambiguity Effect
Bill Nye uses the logical fallacy of misleading vividness, adding many pieces of unnecessary information. This fallacy works to make people think that there is actually substance to what he claims because of the details given. This triggers the ambiguity effect fallacy. By only giving a very vague definition of the other option, Bill is able to give the impression that there is more evidence to support his case. The tactic works in spite of the fact that both the premises and conclusion are false. In other words, this is flimflam. This is actually an argument against the Genesis Flood, not about the age of the Earth. Scripture tells us that the Genesis Flood took place about 4,000 years before Christ. When he asks, "How could those animals have lived their entire life and formed these layers in just 4,000 years?" this is a bit of a red herring. There is no way to know for certain when the layers of limestone were laid down, but it is unlikely that they would have been laid down since the Global Flood. It is far more likely that they would have been laid down during the Global Flood. It appears likely that most of the sedimentary rocks were formed from sediments that were laid down during the Flood. When he says, "There isn’t enough time for this limestone we’re standing on to have come into existence." he is denying the reality of the Global Flood. This is made worse by the rest of the argument. In short, Bill's logic is, "The Bible puts the Flood 4,000 year ago. That isn't possible. You can believe me because of the fallacy of the ambiguity effect that is now fooling you. Since the Bible is disagreeing with what I am telling you, the Bible is inaccurate. Therefore, nothing in the Bible can be known to be true and God cannot be known." This is how age-of-the-Earth arguments and molecules-to-man arguments are generally used by secularists. Going beyond Scripture is actually hurtful in answering these types of arguments. No secular argument can yield truth because of the way that secular reasoning has to work. Agrippa the skeptic wrote about this two-thousand years ago and no one has been able to find an exception. This is so much the case that secular philosophers of science write that science is not about truth but about pragmatism. A secularist cannot rationally claim that the limestone could not have been laid down in the year during the Global Flood. Using the magic word, "science," may be effective in an emotional way, but it proves nothing. Claiming that assumptions of the majority have some sort of truth value is irrational. So, there is zero truth value in Bill's statement, Bill's argument, and Bill's conclusion. What does God say? God says that He created the Heavens, Earth, seas, and all that is in them in six days. He says that He created Adam from the dust of the ground in six days. He has told us about the generations of people from Adam until Christ, which come to somewhere around 4,000 years. He also tells us that there will come some people in the last days to deny the Creation and the Global Flood and that we should not listen to them. If we go beyond that, either to prove a young Earth or to prove an old Earth, God says that He will show us to be liars. Author/Compiler Last updated: Sep, 2014 ![]() Bread Crumbs Main Foundations Home Meaning Bible Dictionary History Toons & Vids Quotations Similar
Logical Fallacy of Stacking the Deck / Cherry Picking / Cherry Picking Data / Suppressed Evidence / Fallacy of Incomplete Evidence / Argument from Selective Observation / Argument by Half-Truth / Card Staking / Fallacy of Exclusion Logical Fallacy of Ambiguity Effect McNamara Fallacy Head in the Sand / Ostrich Fallacy Suppression of the Agent Fallacy Fading Affect Bias / FAB "What I Don't Know Is Not Important" / Unteachable Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Argument by Selective Refutation Logical Fallacy of A-Priorism Logical Fallacy of Audiatur Et Altera Pars / Failure to State Assumptions Error of Ignoring Historical Example Logical Fallacy of Overlooking Secondary Consequences Uncontrolled Factors Fallacy Missing Link Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Moving the Goal Posts / Gravity Game / Raising the Bar Gravity Game Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Argument by Demanding Impossible Perfection / Unfalsifiable Claims / Demanding Impossible Evidence Unfalsifiable Claims Fallacy / Unfalsifiability / Untestibility The Invincible Ignorance Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Appeal to Ignorance / Ad Ignorantiam / Argument from Ignorance / Argument from a Lack of Evidence Logical Fallacy of Ad Ignorantiam Question God of the Gaps Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Argument from Silence / Argumentum Ex Silentio Logical Fallacy of No True Scotsman (a type of stacking the deck) No True Scientist Fallacy Fallacy of Opposition Frozen Abstraction Fallacy Falsified Inductive Generalization Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Argument from the Negative Logical Fallacy of a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid / Accident Fallacy Converse Accident Fallacy / Reverse Accident Fallacy Best-in-Field Fallacy Abductive Fallacy / Retroduction Fallacy / Retroductive Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Denialism / Denial Logical Fallacy of Reductionism / Oversimplification Persimplex Responsum Fallacy / Very Simple Answer Fallacy / Very Simple Solution Fallacy Logical Fallacy of Reductionism / Oversimplification Taboo Fallacy Recent
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