en-us 2025 A weblog for the Fallacy Files website. http://www.fallacyfiles.org/ There are two problems with the following headline: "Marine reserves help mitigate against climate change, say scientists"... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive032026.html#03052026 Every month, "Victor Timm's Mystery Magazine" conducts a survey of its readers to determine their most popular mystery writers. The list is ordered from one to five from favorite (1) to least liked (5). The same five writers, including Brand, made the list this month as last month, but each was in a different position. For instance, Christie rose in this month's rankings from last month. If you add together the digits of the positions from last month and this month, then the sum for Armstrong is seven, Christie's is eight, Doyle's is six, and Edwards' is five. From the information above, can you determine the positions of the top five mystery writers for both months? http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive032026.html#03032026 "The conspiracists work hard to give their written evidence the veneer of scholarship. The approach has been described as death by footnote."... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive022026.html#02092026 "When I was only three, and still named Belle Miriam Silverman, I sang my first aria in pubic." Thus read the first sentence of the first printing of the first edition of an autobiographical work by the late opera singer, Beverly Sills.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive022026.html#02042026 A spy has infiltrated the Agency for Counter-Terrorism. According to the agency's definition, a spy is someone who knows everyone in the agency by name but is known by name to no one else. An internal investigation by the agency's spyhunters has narrowed the suspects down to eight agents whom I will call only A through H to protect the seven innocent suspects.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive022026.html#02012026 There seems to be a theme to this month's entries, namely, numeracy or the lack thereof; this was not intentional but simply the result of what I've happened to notice recently. I suppose it's because I've started reading John Allen Paulos' latest book, "Who's Counting?", a collection of his columns of the same title for ABC News from 2000-2010, along with updates and some more recent writings.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive012026.html#01282026 I recently purchased a "take and bake" pizza, that is, one that is made in the store and then sold to a customer to take home and bake. As is usual, the packaging on the pizza included a standardized nutrition information label, according to which a serving size was "about" one-ninth of the total pizza--I mean the label is usual; the serving size was unusual.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive012026.html#01202026 A recent article in "The New York Times" on increased interest in the use of beef tallow in cooking now includes the following correction.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive012026.html#01152026 Montgomery "Three-Card Monty" Banks was sitting on his usual stool at the bar of his favorite local spot when a stranger sat down beside him. "Howdy," Monty began, "May I offer you a sporting proposition." The bartender, who knew Monty well, rolled his eyes but the stranger didn't notice. He just looked at Monty with raised eyebrows.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive012026.html#01052026 The previous three entries in this series were introductory ones designed to explain the purpose of scholarly notes and how to read them. Having covered that, we're now ready to get into the primary purpose of the series, namely, to explain how notes can be misleading.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive012026.html#01032026 Consider my shock when I recently read the following sentence in a book: "Consider that it is far more likely for someone to be struck twice by lightening if they live on a property that attracts electricity." "Lightening" is the present participle of "to lighten", meaning to make lighter either in the sense of less dark or less heavy. So, "lightening" refers to the process of something becoming lighter.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive012026.html#01012026 Those fun-loving logicians of the Logicians' Club celebrate Christmas every year with a holiday party, and what a wild party it is! This year every member wore a hat that was either red or green, which were taken to be Christmas colors.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive122025.html#12252025 Though the word "antidotes" sounds and is spelled similarly to "anecdotes", it's hard to think of two nouns whose meaning is more different. An antidote is a type of medicine that prevents or limits the harm of a poison, whereas an anecdote is a type of short story, often funny and based on one's own or another's experience.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive122025.html#12242025 Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. Most of us enjoy a cup o' joe in the morning to wake us up, and we need a cup or two later in the day to maintain our level of alertness. Now with the boilerplate out of the way, let's get on with it.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive122025.html#12122025 As a reader of research, once you understand the purposes of notes and the cryptic abbreviations used, the structure of the note itself will be self-explanatory. Exactly how a note is formatted is unimportant as long as sufficient information is included to allow you to identify the source cited and consult it.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive122025.html#12062025 This book tells the story of only one aspect of the coronavirus pandemic, namely, the effect of the virus on children and the misguided efforts to protect them by closing schools.... http://www.fallacyfiles.org/archive122025.html#12012025