Anecdotal Fallacy

(an-ec-do-tal fal-la-cy)

An anecdote is a short story about a real person or incident

Anecdotal Fallacy: when personal experiences, isolated examples, or small stories are used in an argument instead of sound reasoning

This fallacy is used in situations when the person trying to persuade the audience has some personal experience or story regarding the topic. An anecdotal fallacy might be used when someone believes they know best because of something they have done or seen or heard.

Anecdotal fallacies are illogical because not everyone's personal experiences or situations are the same. Just because you know what happened to someone else in the same or a similar situation does not mean that the outcome will be the same for every person that experiences something like it. Using somebody else's experience will not help guide or predict the outcome of this experience.

Once upon a time, there was a BIG BIG FISH who lived in a teeny tiny pond. One day, the BIG BIG FISH became so tired of living in such a small pond that he swam and swam until the pond grew larger.

But that’s another story.

THIS story is about how many of the fish in the BIG BIG FISH’s pond became frightened of new fish who had come to live with them.

Once a year, after the ice melted and the sun began to warm the surface of the water, new fish would arrive in their pond. It always happened the same way: A large loud shape came near, put what looked like the end of a log into their pond, and dozens of new fish would fall into their new home.

The new fish seemed to always be the same size. The looked frightened. They told stories of growing up in crowded conditions, eating the same bland food, in long narrow lakes of very hard stone.

They came to the new pond and were so happy to see the sunshine, the squishy mud, the soft plants, and the delicious insects to eat.

They enjoyed their new home in the pond where the BIG BIG FISH lived. They always became friends with the fish already there.

But THIS year, something was different. THIS year many in the pond were afraid. THIS year many wanted to keep new fish away. What changed? They heard a story – and this is how that happened.

There was an old fish with orange scales who would often go to the surface of the pond to get news from forest creatures. He had become friends with a FOX. The fox told him that new fish would be bad for their pond.