False equivalence

This fallacy is committed when one shared trait between two subjects is assumed to show equivalence, especially in order of magnitude, when equivalence is not necessarily the logical result.{{Cite web |date=2013-08-16 |title=False Equivalence |url=https://trulyfallacious.com/logic/logical-fallacies/presumption/false-equivalence |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514145404/https://trulyfallacious.com/logic/logical-fallacies/presumption/false-equivalence |archive-date=2019-05-14 |access-date=2017-02-17 |website=Truly Fallacious| editor = Edward Webber}} False equivalence is a common result when an anecdotal similarity is pointed out as equal, but the claim of equivalence does not bear scrutiny because the similarity is based on oversimplification or ignorance of additional factors. The pattern of the fallacy is often as such:

{{quote|If {{mvar|A}} is the set containing {{mvar|c}} and {{mvar|d}}, and {{mvar|B}} is the set containing {{mvar|d}} and {{mvar|e}}, then since they both contain {{mvar|d}}, {{mvar|A}} and {{mvar|B}} are equal.}}

In an even more fallacious version, {{mvar|d}} is not required to exist in both sets; merely a similarity of two items {{mvar|d{{sub|1}}}} in set {{mvar|A}} and {{mvar|d{{sub|2}}}} in set {{mvar|B}} is cited to assert equivalence among the sets.

Example: {{quote|If apples and oranges are both fruits, and there are seeds in both apples and oranges, then since they both contain seeds, apples and oranges are equal.}}

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The following statements are examples of false equivalence:{{Cite web |last=Bennett |first=Robert "Bo" |title=False Equivalence |url=https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/245/False-Equivalence |access-date=2018-11-27 |website=Logically Fallacious}}

; "The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is no more harmful than when your neighbor drips some oil on the ground when changing his car's oil."

:The "false equivalence" is the comparison between things differing by many orders of magnitude: Deepwater Horizon spilled {{convert|210|e6USgal|e6L|abbr=unit}} of oil;{{Cite report |url=https://homeport.uscg.mil/Lists/Content/Attachments/119/DeepwaterHorizonReport%20-31Aug2011%20-CD_2.pdf |title=On Scene Coordinator Report on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill |date=September 2011 |access-date=2018-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915094912/http://www.uscg.mil/foia/docs/dwh/fosc_dwh_report.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-15 |url-status=live}} one's neighbor might spill perhaps {{convert|1|USpt|L|abbr=unit}}.

; "They are both Felidae, mammals in the order Carnivora,{{Cite journal |last=Salles |first=L. O. |year=1992 |title=Felid phylogenetics: extant taxa and skull morphology (Felidae, Aeluroidea) |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/5011//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N3047.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=3047 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418082034/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/5011//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N3047.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2017-04-18 |access-date=2017-04-17}} therefore there's little difference between having a pet cat and a pet jaguar."{{Cite web |date=2017-02-16 |title=Cat or Lion: Differences Between Wild and Domestic Cats |url=https://www.lonetreevet.com/blog/wild-and-domestic-cats |website=Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center}}

:The "false equivalence" is in an oversimplification of the factors that make an animal a suitable pet.{{Cite web |title=Distinguishing Cougars, Bobcats, and Domestic Cats |url=https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/education/michigan-species/mammals/cougar/distinguishing-cougars-bobcats-and-domestic-cats |website=Department of Natural Resources |publisher=State of Michigan}}

; "Consuming marijuana can lead to consuming and acquiring a psychological dependence on heroin later in life by acting as a gateway drug, so taking marijuana is like taking heroin."{{Cite journal |last=Finocchiaro |first=Maurice A. |date=1981 |title=Fallacies and the Evaluation of Reasoning |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20013887 |journal=American Philosophical Quarterly |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=13–22 |jstor=20013887 |issn=0003-0481}}

:The "false equivalence" is not considering the difference in likelihood. Consuming heroin is more likely to lead to future heroin dependence than taking marijuana, even given the assumption that one who begins using marijuana is more likely at some later time to try heroin, than someone who has never used marijuana.

False equivalence arguments are often used in journalism{{Cite news |last=Krugman |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Krugman |date=2016-09-16 |title=The Falsity of False Equivalence |work=The New York Times |url=https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/the-falsity-of-false-equivalence |access-date=2017-02-17}}{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Ari |date=2016-08-26 |title=Welcome to the maddening world of false equivalence journalism (from a climate reporter who knows) |url=http://fusion.net/story/341420/the-maddening-world-of-false-equivalence-media-from-a-climate-reporter-who-knows |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509050412/http://fusion.net/story/341420/the-maddening-world-of-false-equivalence-media-from-a-climate-reporter-who-knows/ |archive-date=May 9, 2017 |access-date=2017-02-17 |website=Fusion}} and in politics, where flaws of one politician may be compared to flaws of a wholly different nature of another.{{Cite news |last=Buchanan |first=Neil H. |author-link=Neil H. Buchanan |date=2016-06-22 |title=The False Equivalence of Clinton and Trump's Negatives |work=Newsweek |url=http://www.newsweek.com/false-equivalence-clinton-trump-negatives-472818 |access-date=2017-02-17}}

Thomas Patterson of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University wrote about the false equivalency used by the media during the 2016 United States presidential election:

{{cquote|False equivalencies are developing on a grand scale as a result of relentlessly negative news. If everything and everyone is portrayed negatively, there's a leveling effect that opens the door to charlatans. The press historically has helped citizens recognize the difference between the earnest politician and the pretender. Today's news coverage blurs the distinction.{{Cite news |last=Patterson | first = Thomas E. |date=2016-12-07 |title=News Coverage of the 2016 General Election: How the Press Failed the Voters |work=Shorenstein Center |url=https://shorensteincenter.org/news-coverage-2016-general-election| author-link=Thomas Patterson (author)}}}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• Affirming the consequent
• Apophenia
• Equivocation
• False balance
• False analogy
• List of fallacies
• Tu quoque
• Whataboutism
• Wronger than wrong

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite journal |last=Ferrell |first=Jason |url=https://www.academia.edu/attachments/65712045/download_file |title=On moral equivalence |date=2021-02-15 |journal=SN Social Sciences |volume=1 |pages=64 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s43545-021-00070-4 |issue=2|s2cid=234324904 }}

• {{Cite news |last=Wunderlich |first=Annelise |date=2019-06-13 |title=False Equivalence: Why It's So Dangerous |work=KQED |url=https://www.kqed.org/education/531972/false-equivalence-why-its-so-dangerous-above-the-noise}}
• {{Cite news |last=Sarkis |first=Stephanie |date=2019-05-19 |title=This Is Not Equal To That: How False Equivalence Clouds Our Judgment |work=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/05/19/this-is-not-equal-to-that-how-false-equivalence-clouds-our-judgment/?sh=563351bd5c0f}}

{{Fallacies}}

Category:Informal fallacies

Category:Fallacies