What is the difference between these two fallacies?
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Original Question
Hi, what is the difference between cherry picking and the texas sharpshooter fallacy ? Many sources i found online say they are the same?
Answers
2The texas sharpshooter fallacy is more of a bias and cherry picking is more of a deliberate attempt to mislead. Cherry picking typically refers to picking different facts or studies, where the Texas sharpshooter fallacy typically refers to data points within a system/collection.
They are very similar/
They seem similar in that the arguer is choosing which evidence to use and ignoring other data. But I think the context in. which they arise are different.
The form of cherry picking is: evidence A, ,B, and C is available in connection with conclusion X all of which may be relevant to the truth of X but only A is favorable evidence. The arguer then presents A and ignores B and C.
The Texas sharpshooter fallacy is where there is random data about some phenomenon (none of which necessarily is relevant) and the arguer points to some data that is consistent with the conclusion and gives meaning to it where in fact it is random data that happens to correspond to the conclusion given.
Thus in cherry picking relevant data is chosen that favors the conclusion; in Texas sharpshooting random data is chosen that happens to support it.
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