Logical Fallacy of Assertion Contrary to Fact / Counterfactual Fallacy / Lie / Untruth

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 is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Some have claimed that only logic and math can be known; however, that is not true. Without Divine revelation, neither logic nor math can be known. Science is limited only to pragmatic thinking because of the weakness of human reasoning, which is known as Agrippa's trilemma. Lying, a form of axiomatic thinking, is one of these three unhappy possibilities.

The logical fallacy of assertion contrary to fact / counterfactual fallacy / Lie / Untruth occurs when statements are made or hypothesis are put forward that are contrary to known facts. These are claims that are made that cannot be true based on what we already know. A common misconception is that untrue statements are not lies if the person telling them doesn't know they are lies. Those who spread a lie when they are convinced by the lie are more effective liars. They don't feel guilty and they don't project that guilt through their body language, so they do more damage than those who knowingly tell lies. Fallacy abuse is common with the assertion contrary to fact. It is fallacy abuse to claim that the entire statement is counterfactual by nitpicking an inconsequential detail when the point of the statement is true. Another fallacy abuse would be claiming that an entire statement is counterfactual when the overall statement is true. Most commonly, fallacy abuse is committed by claiming that something is counterfactual because it doesn’t agree with certain opinions such as the opinions of experts. It may be unsupported, but opinions cannot show it to be counterfactual. For something to be counterfactual, the true fact must be known. The Münchhausen Trilemma eliminates naturalistic explanations to establish facts.

Examples of the Logical Fallacy of Assertion Contrary to Fact / Counterfactual Fallacy / Lie / Untruth

Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Atheistic program, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey: "We were born into a mystery, one that has haunted us for at least as long as we’ve been human. We awakened on this tiny world beneath a blanket of stars like an abandoned baby left on a doorstep without a note to explain where we came from, who we are, how our universe came to be, and with no idea how to end our cosmic isolation. We’ve had to figure it all out for ourselves."

Neil goes beyond a simple unsupported assertion to a statement contrary to fact. We don't know everything about it, but God has given us a written testimony that describes where we came from, who we are, how our universe came to be, and how to end our cosmic isolation. By revelation, we know that God's testimony is true. Of course, Neil is sold on the big-bang-billions-of-years-molecules-to-man lie. With that underlying lie as a basis, there is nowhere that he can go except to dip into deeper lies. For a person who is lost, who doesn't know Jesus Christ, life seems like mystery. It seems very complex because it their inner fake-reality makes no sense, has no meaning, and makes all of life seem to have no purpose. That is because they are living in a lie, a make-believe world.

Bill Nye, arguing against Creation science: "The Second Law of Thermodynamics is fantastic, and I call the words of Eddington who said, “If you have a theory that disagrees with Isaac Newton, that’s a great theory. If you have a theory that disagrees with relativity, wow, you’ve changed the world, that’s great. But if your theory disagrees with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, I can offer you no hope.” I can’t help you, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, basically, is where you lose energy to heat. This is why car engines are about 30% efficient; that’s it thermodynamically. That’s why you want the hottest explosion you can get in the coldest outside environment. You have to have a difference between hot and cold, and that difference can be assessed scientifically or mathematically with this word, entropy, this disorder of molecules. Uh. But the fundamental thing that this questioner has missed is the Earth is not a closed system, so there’s energy pouring in here from the Sun, if I may, day and night, ha ha (tossing head back and forth) ‘cause the night it’s pouring in on the other side, so that energy is what drives living things on Earth, especially in our case, plants."  "The other thing I just want to point out, what you may have missed in evolutionary explanations of life is the mechanism by which we add complexity. The Earth is getting energy from the Sun all the time, and that energy is used to make life-forms somewhat more complex."

This has several assertions contrary to fact. Molecules to man is scientifically impossible because of The Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Second Law of Thermodynamics was developed theoretically using the example of a closed system, but it operates in all systems. If it didn't operate on Earth, life as we know it could not exist. The kind of information, known as universal information, have never been observed being added to anything by natural means. Every mutation observed to date has be a loss of Universal Information. Plants, animals, and humans are able to convert the energy from the Sun because they have universal information, a program, and a mechanism to convert that energy for use to build up. Once a new living thing comes into existence, receiving the universal information to build the mechanisms to sustain and reproduce life, the decay begins. God has built in tremendous mechanisms and information to repair and maintain living things against this decay. However, the Second Law of Thermodynamics eventually takes its toll and plants, animals, and humans die. We see the same thing with a house is built. A plan is needed and a mechanism to execute the plan. Houses don't build themselves. But as soon as the house is built it begins to decay and need repair. In addition, the big-bang-billions-of-years-molecules-to-man story is shown to be impossible by the combination of the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics. The First Law tells us that matter and energy are not naturally created ever. The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that the Universe is running down. If complexity, order, or potential energy become greater in one part of the Universe, they do so at the expense of the rest of the Universe. If the Universe had always existed, it would now be in a state of equilibrium--uniform heat just slightly over absolute zero throughout the Universe.

Bill Nye, arguing against Creation science: "You can prove the age of the Earth with great robustness by observing the Universe around us."

Bill Nye is making an unsubstantiated claim. He gives no reason for this statement. It is simply a logical fallacy of bare assertion. It is an outright lie. Bill Nye is referring to a method that is based on assumptions, not on observation without circular reasoning. We are not dogmatically claiming to know that the Earth is 6,000 years old. We know that God created the Heavens and the Earth in six days and we know the number of generations between Adam and Christ. That's about it. Even though a plain reading of Scripture seems to indicate a young Earth; even though there is zero observed evidence and only circular reasoning and speculations that support old Earth stories, we can't even deny the possibility that God could have done something that Scripture doesn't hint at and that has left no scientific evidence. It is possible. It just is not worth the time to think about it.

"The big-bang-billions-of-years-molecules-to-man story has no problem with the Second Law of Thermodynamics because the Second Law of Thermodynamics only operates in closed systems, and the Earth is an open system since the Sun is pouring in energy constantly, which causes the mutations that lead to information being added to cells" This has several assertions contrary to fact."

Note that there are some true assertions. “the Earth is an open system,” “the Sun is pouring in energy constantly,” “[pouring in energy] causes mutations.” However, the false statements cause the overall statement to be an assertion contrary to fact. The outright lies are, “The big-bang-billions-of-years-molecules-to-man story has no problem with the Second Law of Thermodynamics,“ “the Second Law of Thermodynamics only operates in closed systems,” and  “[mutations] lead to information being added to cells.“ Molecules to man is scientifically impossible because of The Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Second Law of Thermodynamics was developed theoretically using the example of a closed system, but it operates in all systems. If it didn't operate on Earth, life as we know it could not exist. The kind of information, known as universal information, have never been observed being added to anything by natural means. Every mutation observed to date has be a loss of Universal Information.

"I'm a good person."

Those who follow Christ know, by revelation, that there is not a just man on the Earth who does good and doesn't sin. God's standard for righteousness is the only one that counts, and God demands absolute perfection. No one can meet this high standard. God has a plan to get us out of this mess. He speaks about it though the Bible.