The False Cause Fallacy: Bruno's Magic Pre-Game Drink

Magic potion? Or just the plain old placebo effect.

Bruno believed the elixir would make him win the game, so it did.

See how we can trick ourselves with our False Cause Activity Pack!

False Cause in a Nutshell

Bruno drank the sugar water. Bruno won the game. Therefore: the sugar water won the game.

Duchess knew this would happen. That was the whole plan. She and Gizmo gave Bruno sugar water on purpose - fully aware it had no special properties whatsoever. What they knew was that Bruno would believe it did. And when you believe something will work, you often perform like it does. That's the placebo effect, and Duchess was counting on it.

That's also the False Cause - or as logicians call it, post hoc ergo propter hoc ("after this, therefore because of this"). Bruno drank the drink. Bruno won. So the drink must have done it. He didn't consider his training, his form, or his teammates. He found a cause that felt right, and stopped looking.

Duchess used the fallacy as a tool. And it worked perfectly.

Sugar water sure works miracles.

See all 24 fallacies in What Are the Most Common Logical Fallacies?

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