One Size Fits All
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Original Question
Today's Appeal To Faith question posted by Alex (see below) brings up another question. What is the fallacy of thinking that "One Size Fits All." That one explanation or solution should be given for all persons or cases, on the premise that we must be consistent, even when the circumstances are different in different cases? Alex's question asks whether if some scientist or other authority is unreliable, why shouldn't we distrust them all?
Appeal To Faith Question: If someone doesn’t “believe” what scientists say about evolution, the shape of the earth or climate change because there’s no proof that they’re really trustworthy, and then I tell him that we should trust them regardless, am I committing the appeal to faith fallacy? What if this person then says that, to be consistent, you should also believe in what self-proclaimed prophets say?
One example of this that comes to mind is the Covid restrictions and mandates that apply to everyone, whether they're in high risk groups or not, and whether they've had Covid before or not (and in some jurisdictions, whether they've been vaccinated or not).
Answers
2We need to be careful to distinguish from the belief that "one size fits all" and the practice . For example, believing that as soon as kids turn 17, they are mature enough to handle rated-R movies would be a false belief (not necessarily a fallacy). However, supporting a law/rule that states one must be at least 17 to watch rated-R movies is not unreasonable. Often, a "one size fits all" approach is necessary or even just convenient.
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