Genetic Fallacy: Fake News - Or Midnight Tornado?

Everytime they say there's gonna be a storm, it doesn't happen!! Gizmo is just trying to get people to subscribe to his live weather app.

Oops. Still not gonna trust GizmoNews though.

See how judging a claim on who said it can backfire with our Genetic Fallacy Activity Pack.

Genetic Fallacy in a Nutshell

The Genetic Fallacy is when you dismiss an argument based on where it came from, rather than whether it's actually right.

GizmoNews said there was a violent storm coming. Bruno was worried. Duchess was not. Not because the forecast was wrong — she had no idea if it was wrong. Because it was GizmoNews. GizmoNews says a lot of things. He's just baiting traffic. So they ignored it. Packed the tent. Drove out.

The storm arrived on schedule.

Here's the thing: even unreliable sources can be right. Even alarmists get rained on. A bad messenger doesn't make a bad message - and a wet tent is a wet tent regardless of who predicted it.

Duchess still doesn't trust GizmoNews. We respect the principle. We do not respect the soggy sleeping bag.

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

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