The economic man (or homo economicus) is a conceptualization of people as ideal decision-making machines, with flawless rationality, unlimited cognitive capacity, perfect access to information, and a narrow range of consistent, self-interested goals. Roughly speaking, this means that the homo economicus can be seen as someone who only cares about maximizing things such as …
A false dilemma (or false dichotomy) is a logical fallacy that occurs when a limited number of options are wrongly presented as being mutually exclusive or the only available options. For example, a false dilemma occurs when someone says that we must choose between options A or B, without mentioning that we can pick …
Cui bono is a Latin phrase that means “who benefits?”, and is used to suggest that there’s a high probability that those responsible for a certain event are the ones who stand to gain from it. For example, if a certain crime has been committed, ‘cui bono’ suggests that the person who committed that …
The golden rule is a moral principle which denotes that you should treat others the way you want to be treated yourself. For example, the golden rule means that if you want people to treat you with respect, then you should treat them with respect too. The golden rule is an important philosophical principle, …
An availability cascade is a self-reinforcing process where a certain stance gains prominence in public discourse, which makes people more likely to believe it and spread it further. For example, an availability cascade could occur in a situation where a news story triggers a wave of public discussion of a topic such as climate …
Cherry picking is a logical fallacy where someone focuses only on evidence that supports their stance, while ignoring evidence that contradicts it. For example, a person who engages in cherry picking might mention only a small selection of studies out of all the ones available on a certain topic, to make it look as if …
Bikeshedding (also referred to as the law of triviality) describes a phenomenon where people spend excessive resources—especially time and energy—dealing with relatively minor issues. For example, a corporate committee that engages in bikeshedding might spend more time discussing the construction of a small bikeshed compared to the construction of an advanced technological facility, simply because …
Parsimony is a guiding principle which suggests that we should prefer simpler explanations and solutions over more complex ones, all other things being equal. For example, if you hear barking from inside your house, and you own a dog, it’s better to assume that you’re hearing your own dog right now, than to assume …
The just-world hypothesis is the mistaken belief that actions always lead to morally fair consequences, so good people are rewarded and bad people are punished. For example, a person is displaying the just-world hypothesis when they assume that if someone experienced a tragic misfortune, then they must have done something to deserve it. The just-world …
The appeal to emotion is a logical fallacy that involves manipulating people’s emotions to strengthen their support for the conclusion of an unsound argument (e.g., one that’s misleading or baseless). For example, a person using an appeal to emotion in a debate might encourage the audience to ignore certain, by trying to make the …