Post Hoc Fallacy Examples in Media, Economics, Real Life, Politics, News & Ads
Post Hoc Fallacy
Post Hoc Fallacy Definition
The post hoc fallacy is a logical fallacy in which a correlation or a causal connection is made between two events or situations that are not known to be related. Post hoc means “after this, therefore because of this.” It is a type of logical fallacy that is often used to falsely conclude that one event directly caused another event, in spite of insufficient evidence. This fallacy is often used when arguing that a drink caused someone to act differently.
An example of a post hoc fallacy is when a person is given a hypothesis and they accept that hypothesis without the necessary evidence.
A person might be led by this fallacy to believe that if they drink snake oil, their cold will go away. This is because they were given the post hoc fallacy example that drinking any type of oil will help cure a cold. A post hoc fallacy is when a person believes something that has happened after something else was done.
Post hoc fallacies are fallacies that can be made by comparing events that already happened and attributing the occurrence of one event to the other. It takes the form “X happened after Y, so Y must have caused X.” When used in discourse, they give the illusion of being a logical deduction, but fail to account for the many other factors that may have contributed to the event.
A post hoc fallacy is a misunderstanding of causality. The fallacy is where one incorrectly assumes that because B follows A, A is the cause of B. Some common examples of this fallacy are:
- A: “The moon landing happened after the assassination of JFK, therefore the moon landing was a conspiracy”
- B: “We should get rid of the minimum wage laws because they have increased unemployment,”
- A: “Diet pills work because I lost 10 pounds in a month.”
Post Hoc Fallacy Examples
Post Hoc example in Economics
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in Economics
The post hoc fallacy is a logical error that occurs when someone assumes that because one event preceded another, the first event caused the second event.
In economics, this fallacy can be seen in supply and demand graphs where it is assumed that an increase in price will lead to a decrease in quantity demanded.
This assumption ignores other factors such as changes in income or tastes.
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Post Hoc example in Philosophy
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in Philosophy:
The post hoc fallacy is when one assumes that because two events are related to each other, the first event caused the second event. One example of this type of fallacy is in philosophy and it’s called the “Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy“.
This fallacy happens when someone makes a conclusion based on a limited set of data points or observations without considering all possible outcomes
Post Hoc Fallacy Real-Life Examples
Post Hoc Fallacy in Real Life:
- You are more likely to get a job if you wear a suit.
- The reason I got the promotion is that I wore a suit.
- The reason my friend lost their job was because they didn’t wear a suit
- A person is walking down the street and sees a man on the ground with his hands up. The person assumes that he must have been shot since there are no visible injuries or blood. It turns out that the man was just having a seizure
Post Hoc Fallacy Examples in Media
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in Media:
The media often reports that the world is becoming more violent. This is a post hoc fallacy because it assumes that violence has increased without considering other factors, such as population growth or changes in reporting methods
Post Hoc Examples in Advertising
Post Hoc Fallacy in Advertising:
- The company advertises that their product is the best because it has been on the market for a long time.
- The company advertises that their product is the best because they have spent more money advertising than other companies.
- The company advertises that their product is the best because people who use it are happy with how it works
Post Hoc Fallacy in Politics
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in Politics:
Politicians often say that they will cut taxes to stimulate the economy. This is an example of post hoc fallacy because it assumes that cutting taxes will cause a country’s economy to grow
Post Hoc Fallacy examples in Movies
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in Movies:
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- The protagonist is wearing a red shirt, so they must be the bad guy.
- The protagonist has a scar on their face, so they must be the good guy.
- The antagonist wears glasses, so they must be intelligent
Post Hoc Fallacy Examples in Literature
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in Literature:
Post hoc fallacy is when you assume one thing caused another, even though there was no causal connection between them.
For example, if I see that my cat has been scratching up all my furniture and then I notice she’s shedding, I might think that she’s shedding because she scratched up the furniture
Post Hoc Fallacy Examples in News
Examples of Post Hoc Fallacy in News:
Post hoc fallacy is when you assume that because two things happen close together in time, they must be related.
For example, if a person has a headache and then eats ice cream, the person might think that eating the ice cream caused the headache.
The problem with this logic is that there are many other reasons why someone could have a headache besides eating ice cream.