False Analogy Fallacy
Kid-friendly name: Bad Analogy
A false analogy (or bad analogy) happens when someone argues that because two things are alike in certain ways, they must be alike in another way too, even though those similarities have nothing to do with the conclusion.
It looks like this:
Thing A and Thing B share a few similarities. Thing A has a certain feature. Therefore, Thing B must have that feature, too.
Comparing two things is a fantastic way to explain a new idea. A good analogy compares things that are similar in ways that actually matter to the point being made. A false analogy is a logical face-plant because the similarities are irrelevant, or because the argument ignores a massive difference between the two things.
Here is an example:
Sam: Can you teach me how to shoot a basketball?
Jordan: Obviously! I won the championship in my basketball video game last season. It's the exact same sport, so I can teach you the same skills.
The video game and the real-life sport do have things in common: both feature a ball, a hoop, and the same rules. However, absolutely zero of those similarities matter when it comes to the conclusion Jordan is making.
Jordan’s video game skill comes from pressing plastic buttons with his thumbs. A real jump shot requires physical coordination, leg strength, and muscle memory. The comparison conveniently ignores the massive difference between moving a joystick and actually moving your own legs.
To Introduce the Concept
Mars and WifiIf scientists can land a robot on Mars, why can't Dad fix the wifi?
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If scientists can land a robot on Mars, why can't Dad fix the wifi?
The wifi has been down for twenty minutes, and Dad has been on the floor behind the couch for nineteen of them. Theo is not impressed. NASA landed a robot on Mars, he points out, and Mars is millions of miles away. The router is about three feet from Dad's face. If humanity can land a robot on Mars, Theo says, fixing the wifi should be a piece of cake.
Theo assumes that because humanity solved a massive, complex technological challenge, a smaller technological problem should be easy for his dad to fix. This is a false analogy. The comparison ignores a few critical differences:
- Different teams: NASA has thousands of the world’s top scientists and engineers. Dad is just one guy trying to fix a router.
- Different resources: Landing a rover on Mars took billions of dollars and years of careful planning. Dad is dealing with a cheap plastic box and whatever he can see in the dark behind the couch.
- Different control: NASA built their robot from scratch. Dad doesn’t control the internet; the provider could be having an outage three towns over, which Dad has absolutely no power to fix.
Basically, Theo is confusing what an international space agency can achieve with what one tired guy can do on a Tuesday night.
In the Wild
United States and Europe, 2008 to todayThe Family BudgetShould a country manage its money the way a family does?
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Should a country manage its money the way a family does?
After the 2008 financial crisis, leaders on both sides of the Atlantic reached for the exact same comparison. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that "one should have just asked a Swabian housewife," who "would have told us that you cannot live beyond your means in the long run." In his 2010 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said, "Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same."
It's an incredibly easy picture to grasp, and it isn't entirely wrong. A family that keeps spending more than it earns gets into trouble, and governments can get into trouble too.
But a national government differs from a family in ways that matter for this exact question:
- It makes its own money. The U.S. borrows in dollars, which it prints itself. A family can't print money in the basement to pay off its credit card. (Printing too much brings its own problems, like inflation, but it's an option no household has.)
- It sets taxes. A family can't vote to give itself a raise.
- Its spending is other people's income. When a family cuts spending, it saves money. When a whole government cuts spending during a downturn, it can shrink the entire economy and with it, the taxes the government collects. Why? Because one person's spending is another person's paycheck.
That last point is why, in both 2008 and 2020, presidents and Congresses from both political parties approved enormous deficit spending to keep the economy from collapsing.
The analogy also fits some countries better than others. Countries that share the euro, like Greece, can't print their own currency, so in that one specific way, they really are more like a household. That's the whole point of defeating a false analogy: whether a comparison holds up depends entirely on checking the details.
None of this determines whether any particular government spends too much. That is a real debate, and it should be argued with evidence. The problem comes when the family-budget picture is used as a cheat code to end the debate before it even starts.
Sources: Barack Obama, State of the Union Address (Jan. 27, 2010); Angela Merkel (2008), as reported by Social Europe
The next time someone compares two things in a commercial or a debate, think of through any differences that might affect their point. If that difference ruins their point, you’ve spotted a false analogy.
This is 1 fallacy. Mind Merit covers 25.
Mind Merit's Bad Analogy Family Guide
- •More examples: Fun, simple examples to illustrate the flaw.
- •More real-world cases: Real-world examples to dig into the flaw in more detail.
- •Family guidance: How to teach recognizing the fallacy to your family.
Inside Mind Merit
Learn to separate the main conclusion from the evidence backing it up.
Learn to spot the flaw in the reasoning, even when the conclusion seems convincing.
- •Adaptive practice: Questions adjust automatically as reasoning improves, keeping practice challenging without being overwhelming.
- •Parent dashboard: Track which logic skills are clicking, and where your student needs more practice.