Talk:Wrong direction
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--Taak 01:22, 7 Apr 2004 (UTC)
We could do with some real-world examples of wrong direction reasoning, where is some element of mutual causation (typically a form of vicious circle). I'm not sure how my ideas would be best fitted in. For example:
- The manager of a bar doesn't bother creating a no-smoking area, giving the excuse that "all our customers smoke". In reality, non-smokers don't tend to visit because it is smoky.
- In my boarding school days, I often got cold sores in the winter months. Some of the medical staff there told me it was because "you've been licking your lips". What nonsense. It's the other way round - the sores always came first, and create the compulsion to lick, though it does spread the infection further.
-- Smjg 18:46, 14 August 2005 (UTC)
Thinking about the first example reminds me of another fallacy I'm not sure if has a page here: incomplete reasoning. On a visit to one pub in Loughborough, I noticed a notice giving an excuse for a "smoking allowed throughout" policy, namely that the premises are too small for separate smoking and non-smoking areas. This is only half the story - if that's your excuse, why can't we have a completely non-smoking pub in town for once? -- Smjg 18:58, 14 August 2005 (UTC)
