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Glossary of Argumentation Techniques

Logical fallacies, manipulation, cognitive biases and tricks used in media, advertising and politics. Learn to recognize them.

Total entries: 40
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All (40) Logical Fallacies (19) Manipulation Techniques (1) Cognitive Bias (4) Advertising and PR Tricks (4) Disinformation Techniques (5) Propaganda Techniques (7)
Cognitive Bias

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs. We ignore or downplay information that c...

Also: confirmation bias, selective perception, confirmation distortion

Cognitive Bias

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs. We ignore or downplay information that contradicts them.

Example usage
A conspiracy theory supporter reads only websites that confirm their views and claims that "there's evidence everywhere," while labeling critical sources as "mainstream."

Also: confirmation bias, selective perception, confirmation distortion

Full detail Source
Cognitive Bias

Survivorship Bias

The tendency to focus on successful cases and ignore the unsuccessful ones, leading to faulty conclusions. We only see the 'survivors' and k...

Also: survivorship bias, sample bias, selection bias

Cognitive Bias

Survivorship Bias

The tendency to focus on successful cases and ignore the unsuccessful ones, leading to faulty conclusions. We only see the 'survivors' and know nothing about all those who failed with the same strategy.

Example usage
"Steve Jobs never graduated and succeeded — college is therefore unnecessary." (Ignores the millions of uneducated people who did not succeed.)

Also: survivorship bias, sample bias, selection bias

Full detail Source
Cognitive Bias

Dunning-Kruger Effect

People with limited knowledge in a certain area often overestimate their abilities, while true experts tend to underestimate their knowledge...

Also: Dunning-Kruger effect, overconfidence of the uninformed

Cognitive Bias

Dunning-Kruger Effect

People with limited knowledge in a certain area often overestimate their abilities, while true experts tend to underestimate their knowledge. A beginner does not see the gaps in their understanding because they would need the very knowledge they lack to recognize them.

Example usage
After reading one article about vaccination, someone feels more capable of debating with an immunologist who has been studying the topic for 30 years.

Also: Dunning-Kruger effect, overconfidence of the uninformed

Full detail Source
Cognitive Bias

Halo Effect

The tendency to let one positive trait (appearance, charisma, fame) influence the evaluation of all other characteristics of the same person...

Also: halo effect, aureole effect, first impression

Cognitive Bias

Halo Effect

The tendency to let one positive trait (appearance, charisma, fame) influence the evaluation of all other characteristics of the same person. Attractive people are intuitively rated as smarter, more honest, more capable — without evidence.

Example usage
A politician looks trustworthy and has a pleasant voice, so people assume his economic proposals will be reasonable without studying them.

Also: halo effect, aureole effect, first impression

Full detail Source
Advertising and PR Tricks

Celebrity Endorsement

Using a famous personality to recommend a product or service. It works on the principle of trust transfer — people transfer positive feeling...

Also: celebrity endorsement, advertising faces, influencer marketing

Advertising and PR Tricks

Celebrity Endorsement

Using a famous personality to recommend a product or service. It works on the principle of trust transfer — people transfer positive feelings from the personality to the product, even if the celebrity has no expertise in the area.

Example usage
A famous football player recommends multivitamins in an advertisement, even though he is neither a doctor nor a nutrition specialist.

Also: celebrity endorsement, advertising faces, influencer marketing

Full detail
Advertising and PR Tricks

Transfer (prestige transfer)

A technique that transfers the prestige of a positive symbol (national flag, cross, image of a hero, famous personality) to a specific perso...

Also: transfer, guilt by association, prestige transfer

Advertising and PR Tricks

Transfer (prestige transfer)

A technique that transfers the prestige of a positive symbol (national flag, cross, image of a hero, famous personality) to a specific person, institution, or idea. The target group automatically adopts the positive emotions from the symbol and relates them to what the symbol is associated with — without any logical justification for this connection.

Example usage
A politician poses in front of the national flag with their family and a cross, so the audience subconsciously associates their program with patriotism and traditional values — regardless of what they actually advocate.

Also: transfer, guilt by association, prestige transfer, associative connection

Full detail Source
Advertising and PR Tricks

False Advantage

Creating the illusion of an amazing discount or offer using a trickily set original price. Prices are artificially inflated so that the subs...

Also: artificial discount, fake discount, price anchoring trick

Advertising and PR Tricks

False Advantage

Creating the illusion of an amazing discount or offer using a trickily set original price. Prices are artificially inflated so that the subsequent "discount" looks dramatic.

Example usage
"Instead of 9,999 CZK, only 4,999 CZK!" — the product was never actually sold for 9,999 CZK.

Also: artificial discount, fake discount, price anchoring trick

Full detail
Propaganda Techniques

Personality Enhancement

Linking a person, institution, or idea with positively sounding words without specific content — 'great', 'good', 'sincere', 'fair', 'solid'...

Also: glittering generalities, shiny phrases, content-free adjectives

Propaganda Techniques

Personality Enhancement

Linking a person, institution, or idea with positively sounding words without specific content — 'great', 'good', 'sincere', 'fair', 'solid', 'successful'. These phrases evoke agreement but say nothing concrete about actual traits or qualities.

Example usage
'We stand for sincere and fair politics, support families, create prosperity for all.' (Sounds nice, but content-wise empty statements — what does it specifically mean?)

Also: glittering generalities, shiny phrases, content-free adjectives, positive vagueness

Full detail Source
Advertising and PR Tricks

False Urgency

Creating an artificial sense that an offer will end soon or that products are running out, so the customer does not think and buys under pre...

Also: scarcity marketing, urgency tactics, artificial scarcity

Advertising and PR Tricks

False Urgency

Creating an artificial sense that an offer will end soon or that products are running out, so the customer does not think and buys under pressure. Commonly seen in forms like "today only!", "last 3 pieces!", countdown timers.

Example usage
"The offer ends in 04:32:11!" — after expiration, the timer resets and the "offer" continues.

Also: scarcity marketing, urgency tactics, artificial scarcity, FOMO marketing

Full detail
Disinformation Techniques

Cherry Picking

Selective choice of only the data or evidence that supports a predetermined conclusion, while ignoring all others. This creates a misleading...

Also: cherry picking, selective quoting, data selection

Disinformation Techniques

Cherry Picking

Selective choice of only the data or evidence that supports a predetermined conclusion, while ignoring all others. This creates a misleading picture of reality, even if outright false information is not used.

Example usage
The article "Global Warming is a Myth" cites five cold winters but omits hundreds of warm years in the long-term trend.

Also: cherry picking, selective quoting, data selection

Full detail Source
Disinformation Techniques

Falsification of facts

The intentional spread of false information or mixing truth with lies into so-called half-truths. A combination of true partial facts with f...

Also: fabulism, half-truth, half-truth

Disinformation Techniques

Falsification of facts

The intentional spread of false information or mixing truth with lies into so-called half-truths. A combination of true partial facts with fabricated details makes the whole more credible and harder to recognize. Half-truths spread faster than outright false hoaxes.

Example usage
"Drahoš's granddaughter led protests against the government." (True person, fabricated role.) Or: "The EU introduced mandatory quotas for Muslims." (Mixes truth about the EU with completely fabricated claims.)

Also: fabulism, half-truth, half-truth, fake news, disinformation

Full detail Source
Logical Fallacies

Unfalsifiability

The speaker presents a claim that cannot be fundamentally disproven — and asserts that this is why it is true. The fallacy confuses unfalsif...

Also: unfalsifiability, pseudoscientific claim, argumentum ad ignorantiam

Logical Fallacies

Unfalsifiability

The speaker presents a claim that cannot be fundamentally disproven — and asserts that this is why it is true. The fallacy confuses unfalsifiability with truth. The burden of proof lies with the one making the claim, not the skeptical opponent.

Example usage
"The conspiracy of the elites is so well organized that it leaves no traces. The fact that you see no evidence is itself proof of how well they hide it." (The claim contains no way it could be disproven.)

Also: unfalsifiability, pseudoscientific claim, argumentum ad ignorantiam

Full detail Source
Disinformation Techniques

Information Overload

The intentional inundation of the audience with a vast amount of information — true, misleading, and outright false. The goal is not to conv...

Also: information overload, inundation, information saturation

Disinformation Techniques

Information Overload

The intentional inundation of the audience with a vast amount of information — true, misleading, and outright false. The goal is not to convey a specific message, but to exhaust the recipient, lower the quality of their decision-making, and push them towards passivity or resignation. Related to the technique of 'hose of lies'.

Example usage
A politician mentions 30 different statistics, quotes, and claims in 5 minutes at a press conference — journalists have no chance to verify everything, and the audience remembers nothing but the 'feeling that they are in the know'.

Also: information overload, inundation, information saturation, gish gallop

Full detail Source
Disinformation Techniques

Firehose of Falsehood

A propaganda technique that involves flooding the media space with a large number of contradictory claims and half-truths in quick successio...

Also: firehose of falsehood, gish gallop, flood of falsehoods

Disinformation Techniques

Firehose of Falsehood

A propaganda technique that involves flooding the media space with a large number of contradictory claims and half-truths in quick succession. The goal is not to promote one specific lie, but to exhaust the audience and create the impression that "truth does not exist" or "no one can be trusted."

Example usage
Four contradictory versions of an event are published within 24 hours — the viewer gives up and concludes "we'll probably never know."

Also: firehose of falsehood, gish gallop, flood of falsehoods

Full detail Source
Disinformation Techniques

Relativization

Questioning objective truth: the assertion that 'truth does not exist', 'there is an alternative truth', or 'while it may not be true, it co...

Also: relativizing, alternative facts, alternative truth

Disinformation Techniques

Relativization

Questioning objective truth: the assertion that 'truth does not exist', 'there is an alternative truth', or 'while it may not be true, it could be'. The aim is to blur the line between established facts and opinions so that the audience stops believing any source.

Example usage
'Climatologists may have data, but that's just one perspective. There is also an alternative scientific opinion that says the exact opposite.' (False equivalence between consensus scientific output and marginal pseudoscience.)

Also: relativizing, alternative facts, alternative truth, blurring the truth

Full detail Source
Logical Fallacies

Red Herring

A deliberate diversion of attention from the core issue to another topic that is interesting but unrelated to the original question. The dis...

Also: red herring, distraction, ignoratio elenchi

Logical Fallacies

Red Herring

A deliberate diversion of attention from the core issue to another topic that is interesting but unrelated to the original question. The discussion shifts direction, leaving the original problem unanswered.

Example usage
Reporter: "Minister, how do you explain the missing millions from the subsidies?" Minister: "The main problem in our country is not a few million — it's the disrespect of journalists towards the work of politicians." (Does not answer the question, changes the topic.)

Also: red herring, distraction, ignoratio elenchi

Full detail Source