Line Drawing Fallacy is a particular kind of logical fallacy that happens when someone makes an argument by presenting a line-like series of points while leaving out some crucial details. It happens when a discussion assumes that just because two things are close to one another, they must somehow be connected.
Consider displaying two lines with arrows pointing from one point on each line to another point on each line in an effort to show the causal connection between two events. If someone else does not know what is going on between these two points, it might be hard or impossible for them to understand why these lines are connected.
Examples Of Line Drawing Fallacy
You can consider some examples.
Example: 01
Jack is not a wealthy man. Even if someone gives him a dollar, he won’t become wealthy. He won’t become wealthy even if he gets two dollars. Because of this, he will never be wealthy no matter how many dollars are given to him. What if we quickly gave him $40,000,000 in installments? He would undoubtedly become rich. But since we are unable to pinpoint the precise sum that made him wealthy, he will never become wealthy (so the fallacy).
Example: 02
There isn’t a body of water I haven’t been able to cross by swimming across it. A body of water that is too large to be crossed by swimming.
Example: 03
Let’s say John doesn’t have a beard right now. He won’t go bald even if he only loses one hair. Even if he loses a second hair after that, he won’t become completely bald. Therefore, regardless of how many hairs he loses, he will never be considered bald. The main defense is that John can never be considered to be bald if we are unable to determine the precise number of hairs he must have lost.
Example: 04
Why is it necessary to be at least 21 years old in order to consume alcohol? Is the fact that you are 20 years and 364 days old really relevant? That is absurd. If one day doesn’t matter, a collection of 1095 single days won’t make a difference. As a result, increasing the drinking age to 18 will have no effect.
Example: 05
William: I’ve just come to the conclusion that I’ll probably never lose my hair!
Fred: Why is that?
William: So even if I lose just one hair, I won’t become bald?
Fred: Of course.
William: And when my two hair fall out?
Fred: No.
William: No matter how many hairs I lose, even one will not be enough to make me bald, so I will never go bald.
Fred: Congratulations, you’ve found the cure for baldness: stupidity!
The Bottom Line
In any area of life, there aren’t many clear lines that separate the various categories. Humans create categories to aid in our understanding of the world, but they frequently confuse us even more by leading us to believe that abstract concepts are real.
We truly hope that you will find this article on “Line Drawing Fallacy” to be helpful.