Spotting a False Analogy
What is Spotting a False Analogy?
Six questions for catching a bad analogy. (1) What conclusion is the analogy meant to establish? (2) Does the resemblance actually bear on that conclusion? (3) Is one shared feature being treated as making the whole thing alike? (4) What key differences might change the outcome? (5) Could the similar outcome have another cause entirely? (6) Is the analogy still a prompt for thinking, or has it quietly become the proof? Watch for the giveaway phrases: “everyone else does it this way”, “it has always worked”, “you do it too”.
Spotting a False Analogy: common mistakes and how to handle them
Typical bad analogies: comparing a question about a course to disloyalty to one’s own family moves the subject rather than answering it; “the school next door doesn’t even offer art” uses someone else’s shortcoming to dodge your own; “schools that added a logic course still have discipline problems” proves nothing from a single case; “a coroner is rigorous, so they will make a fine general manager” over-extends the analogy, and “a coroner’s experience is worth nothing here” is equally wrong — the transferable habits of thought have to be separated from the domain knowledge that isn’t transferable. “The kid down the road does two workbooks and does well, so you will too”: same age and same year are surface resemblances, while prior knowledge, the weak subjects, and sleep are what actually bear on the result — extract the mechanism behind the method and trial it against your own case. A useful reply: “these two situations really are alike in some ways; let’s also check three differences.”
What the Spotting a False Analogy questions test
judging which of the six questions an analogy fails; separating a surface resemblance from a relevant one; spotting an analogy used for emotional leverage, or one that dodges the issue by pointing at someone else’s flaw; converting “copy what they did” into “extract the mechanism and test it”.