name of fallacy, if a little is good more is better
Historical archive only. New interaction is disabled.
Original Question
What is the name of the fallacy where people extrapolate that if a small change is good a bigger change must be better?
For example
A dash of salt in my soup makes its taste better, therefore, a cup of salt in my soup will make it unbelievably delicious.
Or
Giving your child a little freedom to make mistakes and understand the consequences will help them develop, therefore placing no rules, limits, and boundaries on your child is developmentally even healthier
We often see this couple with economic deregulation or personal freedom claims nowadays, but it seems to be a fundamental mistake ubiquitous in how people think about most things.
I would call this something like the monotonicity, extreme or extrapolation fallacy
For example
A dash of salt in my soup makes its taste better, therefore, a cup of salt in my soup will make it unbelievably delicious.
Or
Giving your child a little freedom to make mistakes and understand the consequences will help them develop, therefore placing no rules, limits, and boundaries on your child is developmentally even healthier
We often see this couple with economic deregulation or personal freedom claims nowadays, but it seems to be a fundamental mistake ubiquitous in how people think about most things.
I would call this something like the monotonicity, extreme or extrapolation fallacy
Answers
2This borders on black and white thinking (cognitive bias but also a fallacy when used in an argument) where one would think X is either good or bad... and that's it. They do not apply nuance to realize that while a little of X is good, a lot of X might be bad. As Michael (Chase Walker) suggests, the examples you list are quite extreme and could indicate something more serious than fallacious reasoning or normal cognitive biases.
Hi Michael,
I'm not seeing a fallacy here. It's either a matter of personal taste or potentially a personality disorder.
I'm not seeing a fallacy here. It's either a matter of personal taste or potentially a personality disorder.
Master Logical Fallacies Online
Take the Virversity course and sharpen your reasoning skills with structured lessons.
View Online Course