Cherry Picking Fallacy Examples in Media, Real Life, Politics, News & Ads

Cherry Picking Fallacy

Cherry Picking Fallacy Definition

Cherry-picking fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone selects certain data to create a misleading argument.  It is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that may contradict that position.

The cherry picking fallacy is when someone selects a few facts that support their argument and ignores the rest of the information. The selection of the data must be made in such a way that it distorts the conclusion or makes it seem more significant than it really is.

This type of reasoning can also be called “data mining” or “selective inference.”

Cherry Picking Fallacy Examples

Cherry Picking Fallacy example in Philosophy

Examples of Cherry-Picking Fallacy in Philosophy:

For example, if you were making an argument about whether or not to vaccinate children, you might only talk about how many people died from measles in the last year without talking about how many people have died from other diseases like polio.

Cherry Picking Fallacy Real-Life Examples

Cherry Picking Fallacy in Real Life:

Cherry picking fallacy is the act of using a biased sample to draw conclusions about the population as a whole.

An example of cherry picking fallacy in real life would be if I wanted to know what my average weight was, and I weighed myself only once.

If I weigh myself again, it will probably give me a different number.

Cherry Picking Examples in Media

Examples of Cherry-Picking Fallacy in Media: 

Selecting a few pieces of information to support an argument while ignoring other relevant data. Cherry picking is often used in the media to mislead people by only showing them one side of the story.

For example, if you are watching a news report on gun violence and showing footage from shootings but not any statistics about how many people were saved by guns that year.

For example, the media may focus on one side of an issue while ignoring another.  It’s important to look at all sides and not just the convenient ones.

The media often cherry-picks facts to support a specific narrative. This is an example of the “cherry picking fallacy.”

Cherry Picking Fallacy Examples in Commercial & Advertising

Cherry Picking Fallacy in Commercial & Advertising: 

In commercials, cherry picking a few people who are satisfied with the product and ignoring all of those who aren’t.

It’s not an accurate representation of how many people are satisfied or dissatisfied with the product.

Cherry Picking Fallacy in Politics

Examples of Cherry Picking Fallacy in Politics:

Cherry picking fallacy is the act of selectively choosing data or evidence that supports one’s position while ignoring any contradictory evidence.

In politics, cherry picking can be seen in politicians’ rhetoric when they use only certain statistics to support their point and ignore others that do not support it.

Cherry Picking Fallacy examples in Movies

Examples of Cherry Picking Fallacy in Movies:

When a movie reviewer only mentions the positive aspects of a film and ignores any negative points.

When someone cites one example to prove their point while ignoring other examples that disprove it.

Cherry Picking Examples in Literature

Examples of Cherry Picking Fallacy in Literature:

The cherry picking fallacy is the act of selecting evidence that supports a position while ignoring evidence that does not support it.

It can be seen in literature when an author only references the parts of a book or article that they agree with and ignores any other parts.

This can be done to make their argument seem more convincing than it actually is.

Cherry Picking Examples in News

Examples of Cherry Picking Fallacy in News:

An example would be if someone was trying to argue against global warming and they only looked at one year’s worth of data instead of looking at all the years’ worth of data together.

Another example would be if someone was trying to argue for vaccines’ safety and effectiveness but didn’t look at any studies showing negative effects.

Related Resources:

Moving the Goalposts Fallacy 

Special Pleading Fallacy Examples 

Black and White Fallacy Examples