10 Examples of the Worst Kinds of Fallacies
             Legalizing marijuana will mean increased availability, leading to increased drug use by teenagers, more addiction, more drug-related crime, more deaths of young people, the destruction of our public school system, and eventually the collapse of our society.
             -Republican platform on the issue of legalizing marijuana.
             The "slippery slope" of non-automatic consequences is clear here: increased availability, use, crime, and death, leading to destruction of the schools and society. And with each step down the slope, the consequences are more dire, but the causal connection is more tenuous. The point is that we should decide the question of legalizing drugs on its own merits, and not on the fear of a remote (and unlikely) result such as the collapse of society.
             "If you love your family, you'll buy this new stealth security system."
             -Security salesman's statement while giving a free demonstration at my home on 2/20/01.
             The claim only has two options: either the consumer buy the security system, or the consumer does not love his/her family. But, of course, there are many others: the consumer might not love his/her family and still buy the system; or the consumer might love his/her family but not buy the system; or the consumer might buy some other system. This fallacy works by making the consumer concentrate only on the two options mentioned, one of which--in this case, not loving his/her family-is assumed to be unacceptable.
             "Dennie, if you don't stop smoking, you are going to die!"
             -Dorothy Bradbury, after a close friend passes from lung cancer on 2/05/01.
             Let's begin with the bad news for me: even if I do stop smoking, I am going to die one day. And the claim does not say when I will die, or why. Still, some people might consider the very mention of death as a scare tactic, even though there is plenty of evidence that smoking does impair your h...