intimidation, 266
Introduction to Learners (Carroll), 285
invalid syllogisms, 77
Investment Pearls for Modern Times Expressed in Meter and in Rhymes (Patten), 46, 234
investment strategies, 44-46
See also fraud and deception, stock market fraud
Investors’ Business Daily, 186
invulnerability, illusion of, 212
IPOs. See Initial Public Offerings
Iraq, 319
irrational thinking, 183, 188-89, 191-92, 196, 298
irrelevant evidence. See evidence
is, alternative definitions and uses, 95, 100
existence of God as example, 98-99
isolation, fear of. See herd instinct
isolation of affect. See mental mechanisms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
J
James, William, 294
Janis, Irving, 211, 218n1
Jefferson, Thomas, 21
Jehovah’s Witnesses, 239
Jesus, 10, 17, 194-96
John 18:36-38, 195
Johnson, Lyndon Baines, 49-51, 59, 146
Johnson, Samuel, 268
Jones, Jim, 214-16
junk science. See pseudoscience
K
Kafka, Franz, 311
Kaiser, 147
Kasai, Katsuko, 304
Kennedy, John R, 212-13
Kennedy, Robert, 212
Kerouac, Jack, 299
Khrushchev, Nikita, 121-22
knowledge, theory of, 249-83
“know thyself,” 32
Koestler, Arthur, 317
Kruger, Paul, 147
Kurtz, Don, 42-43
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
L
p. 357 Laboratory of Social Relations (Harvard University), 214
LaGuardia Commission, 165
Landon, Alf, 265
language
implied commitments, 138
language analogies, 153
linguistic confusions, 260, 281
See also definitions; words
Last Poems (Yeats), 319
law
and elimination of prejudice, 193
trials, 316-19
Lay, Ken, 115, 117-19, 121, 185, 232
laziness. See mental laziness
leading questions, 241, 262, 281
lead-into-gold scam. See fraud and deception
“leap of faith, “28
learning, 37-38
Leaves of Grass (Whitman), 157-58
legal blocks in a fraud, 222
legal definitions, 87
Legere, John J., 119-21
less the better argument, 151, 272, 281
Lewinsky, Monica, 193
Liddell, Alice, 285-329
Liddell, Edith, 292-93
Liddell, Henry George, 285
Lincoln, Abraham, 94, 158, 159
Literary Digest, 265
Loeb, G. M., 45
logic, 9
logical deduction. See deductive logic
logical induction. See inductive logic
long-term memory, 37
loopholes, 87, 199
Lory, 292-93
Lynch, Peter, 115
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
M
machine analogies. See analogies
Mackay, Charles, 317
Macromedia, Inc., 122-23
Madison, James, 267
Maginot Line, 148
major premise, 77, 297
March Hare, 307-309
Marcus, Jane, 169
mass hallucination, 139-40
mass media, 20-21, 23-24
sound bites, 21, 24, 279-80
See also advertising
mathematics, 27, 306-307
Matrix, The (movie), 32
McNamara, Robert, 49, 212
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (University of Texas), 110, 113
mean, fallacy of. See fallacy
medical and scientific definitions, 88-92
medicine as a science, 89-90
Meeker, Mary, 61-62
men and machine analogies. See analogies
Mendelsohn, John, 110-14, 116
mental laziness, 19, 20, 178
mental mechanisms, 179-80, 182-85
Merton, Robert C., 186
Microsoft Corporation, 44
middle term, 297
Miller, Arthur, 134
Mills, Al, 216
Mills, Jeanne, 216
Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, 171
Ministry of Propaganda, 171
minor premise, 77, 297
miracles, 138, 139-40
misinformation, 21, 45, 299
Mismeasure of Man, The (Gould), 54
missing evidence. See evidence
misstating evidence. See evidence
Mitchell, Billy, 66
p. 358 Mock Turtle, 314-16
moderation, fallacy of. See mean, fallacy of
Moran, Kevin, 243
more the better argument, 151, 272, 281
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Company, 62
Morris, Desmond, 152-53
Morton, William, 191
Murphy game. See fraud and deception
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
N
Nadelmann, Ethan A., 169
Naked Ape, The (Morris), 153
Nash, John, 319
National Institutes of Health, 315
National Security Archives, 218n1
necessary and sufficient evidence, 268-69
negative, particular, 77
negative existential assertions. See contradictions
negatives, definition of, 87
negative-sum game, 313
negotiations, 105-106
bed time without crying as example, 105-106
Nelson, Bonnie Lu, 216-17
neurologists, intelligence of as example, 46-47
New England Journal of Medicine, 114
Newspeak, 112
Newton, Isaac, 28, 30
New York Times, 110, 116, 120, 200
1984 (Orwell), 112, 166, 174-75, 264, 317
Nixon, Richard M., 122, 158, 322
Nobel Prize, 186, 319
Noble Truths, 21
“no brainers,” 58
Noman, 322
noncausal events, 130
nonrepresentative selection of information, 264-65
AIDS statistics as example, 265
non sequitor, 65, 206, 313
nothing as a mathematical concept, 323-24
novel truths. See truth
novelty, fallacy of. See fallacy
N-rays, 254
null case, 139, 308, 322-24
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
O
objective facts, 10
obloquy, 280
“O Captain, My Captain” (Whitman), 157-58
O’Connor, Frank, 274
O’Grady, Pat, 150-51
omission of evidence. See evidence
On the Road (Kerouac), 299
Operation Zapata, 218n1
Oprah Winfrey Show, The (TV series), 252
optative. See wishful thinking
Origin of Species, The (Darwin), 181
Orwell, George, 112, 317
out-of-context evidence. See evidence
overgeneralization, 25, 46, 56, 58, 70, 75, 80
in advertising, 73-76
in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 286, 292
iron boats and British admiralty as example, 64-65
more the better argument, 272
Nazi treatment of Jews as example, 59
neurologists, intelligence of as example, 46-47
racial profiling example, 70-72
US Coast Guard collision regulations as example, 143
p. 359 Vietnam War as example, 50-51, 59
war on drugs as example, 164
overlearned association, 37
oversimplification, 272
overt meanings. See definitions
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
P
paired association, 37, 38
Park, Yun Soo Oh, 230
partial selection of evidence. See evidence
particular affirmative, 77
particular knowledge, 27-28
particular negative, 77
passionately held beliefs, 196
patriotism, 208, 252-54
“Pattened Principles,” 38, 249
Patton, George, 278
payments in lieu of expenses. See special pleading “Lulus” as example
PDS. See pedigreed dog scam
Peano, Giuseppe, 98
pedigreed dog scam, 219-20
Peep. See Nelson, Bonnie Lu
Peirce, Charles, 294
Peoples Temple (Guyana), 214
Perot, Ross, 257-58
personal preferences as warning sign, 75
perverted science. See pseudoscience
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Newton), 29
philosophy in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 286
phony baloney. See misinformation
PhotoShop, 123
Pilate, 194-95
Piltdown man hoax, 254
Plato, 300
playing favorites, 201
pleonasm, 262, 281
politically incorrect items, 256
politicians and irrelevant evidence, 257-59
Polyphemus, 322
Ponzi, Charles, 228
Ponzi schemes. See fraud and deception, chain letters
Popper, Karl, 26
popular sentiment and arguments. See argumentum ad populum
positive existential assertions. See tautology
positive-sum game, 313
positivism, 26
posteriori. See inductive logic
post hoc, propter hoc, 129-44, 137-38, 271-72
common cause, 270-71
examples in history, 136-37
Greek sea storm as example, 131-32
malpractice suits as examples, 135-36
Mayans as example, 132-33
medical examples, 134-35
miracles as examples, 138, 139-40
rain and streets as example, 131
rooster crowing as example, 129-30
Salem Witch trials as example, 133-34
US Coast Guard collision regulations as example, 140-43
Vietnam War as example, 146-47
pragmatism, 294
precision, impossible, 278-79
predicative use of word is. See is, alternative definitions and uses
prediction of the future, 51, 268
prejudice, 177, 192-94
color prejudice, 198-99
impact on thinking, 237
p. 360 and law, 193
as overgeneralization, 70
racial profiling example, 70-72
slaves and Declaration of Independence as example, 198-99
See also partial selection of evidence
premises, 76, 297
false, 288
preponderant weight of evidence. See evidence
prescience, 115
pressure in a fraud, 221-22, 224, 225, 226, 236
Priceline.com Inc., 61
principle of identity, 295
probability, 273, 310
projection, psychological, 179-80
proofs in mathematics, 27
prospective thinking, 68
proverbs as half-truths, 53
pseudoscholars, 18-19, 76
pseudoscience, 27
PSINet, 63
psychoanalysis
and covert meanings, 103
mental mechanisms, 182-85. See
mental mechanisms
psychological fallacy. See fallacy
public opinion as basis for argument, 208
pump-and-dump swindle. See fraud and deception
pyramid scams, 227-28
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Q
Queen Elizabeth II (ship), 42
Queen of Hearts, 310-12
“Queen of the Internet.” See Meeker, Mary
quest for certainty, 196
R
RA mnemonics, 250
rational inference, 37, 40
rationality of humans, 178
rationalization, 179, 182-85, 245-46, 254
book review as example, 185-86
cheating on income tax as example, 184
fox and grapes as example, 183
rational thought, 9
Reagan, Ronald, 91, 258
reality, 10-11, 12-14, 25, 26-27
in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 294, 327
finding with uniform field theory, 249-83
reasonable doubt, 269
reasoning
contrary to fact, 231, 233
irrelevant evidence, 267-68
counterevidence, 67
elliptic reasoning, 291
fake reasons, 254
faulty, 240
red herring, 259, 282
reductive elimination, 292-93
Rehoboam, 149
reification, 315
relevance criterion, 308
relevant evidence. See evidence
relevant truths. See truth
Reliant Resources, 21
religious mania, 132
repetition, 75, 205
repression. See mental mechanisms
reservations, 57-58
resistance to change, 190-92
anesthesia as example, 191
“revolutionary suicide,” 215
Rip-Off Book, The (Santoro), 234
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, The (Shirer), 171, 317
p. 361 Rogers Wireless, 63
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare), 148
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 265
roper, 220
Rosen, George, 218
Royal Society of London, 116
rub, 11, 64
Rubin, Norma, 149
ruses. See fraud and deception
Rusk, Dean, 212
Russell, Bertrand, 18, 304
Ryan, Leo, 214-15
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
S
sacred cows, 20
Salomon Smith Barney Holdings, Inc., 62-63
salting mines as a scam. See fraud and deception
Santoro, Victor, 234
scams. See fraud and deception
Schlesinger, Arthur, 212
scholarship, 18
Scholes, Myron S., 186
Schulte, Fred, 234
Scientific American, 254, 304
scientific theory, 26
tentativeness of, 40-41
Scipio Africanus, 27
Second Punic War, 27
Security Exchange Commission, 34, 121, 203-204, 230
selective evidence, 74
self-assurance, 17
self-contradictions. See contradictions
self-deception, 49-51
self-interest, 193, 203, 252-53
in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 293
Jesus and crucifixion as example, 194-96
oil drilling Arctic as example, 203
See also special pleading
Semmelweis, Ignaz, 135
sentimentalism, 321
sex scams. See fraud and deception, Murphy game
Shakespeare, William, 148
shame as a block in a fraud, 222, 224, 226
Shaw, George Bernard, 130, 276
shell game. See fraud and deception
shifted context, 295
shill in a fraud, 221, 224, 225, 236
Shirer, William L., 171, 317
short con, 220
Sifakis, Carl, 234
simple solutions, 14, 16-17, 18, 21, 141, 159, 19
7
in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 287
US Coast Guard collision regulations as example, 143
war on drugs as example, 164
size of person, 152
size of sample, 276-77
skepticism, 60, 196, 197, 231
slogans, 163, 170, 172, 260-61
Aryan master race as example, 170-72
war on drugs as example, 167
Smith, Winston, 264
Socrates, 17, 32, 300
soliloquies, 84
Solomon, 149
solutions, 58
sorites, 142
Soros, George, 44-45
sound bites. See mass media
sour grapes, 183
special pleading, 199-203, 232, 233, 282
“Lulus” as example, 200
Pentagon and environmental laws as example, 200-202
p. 362 rich vs. poor as example, 202-203
Social Security as example, 200
See also self-interest
speed of light, 41
Spinoza, Benedict de, 14-15
Standard & Poor, 234
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 256-57
statements, defective, 143
statistics, misused, 264-65, 277
size of sample, 276-77
Stewart, Martha, 113, 114
stonewalling, 320
subaltern, 99
substantive consoling messages, 48
suicide, 215
supererogation, 109, 281
superstitions, 137-38
suppression. See mental mechanisms
sweeping generalization, 55
swindles. See fraud and deception
switch in a fraud, 221, 224, 225, 226, 236
syllogism, 76-78, 302-303
in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 296-98
categorical, 77
undistributed middle error, 77
symbolic logic, 141
cat’s smile, 304-306
is, alternative definitions and uses, 100
unbirthdays, 309-10
use of ∈ (epsilon), 98, 99
synonym, definition by, 88
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
T
Talmud, 299
tautology, 42, 43, 95-97, 205-206, 239-40, 272
in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 287, 300-301
existence of God as example, 239
irrelevant evidence, 262, 281
US Coast Guard collision regulations as example, 143
Taylor, Maxwell, 218n1
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 80-81
Tertullian, 28
testimonial letters as proof in advertising, 74
Texas A&M University, 258
Theaetetus (Plato), 300
“thimble rigger,” 227
thinking, 17-18, 20
and cats as example, 39-40
and cows as example, 36-38, 39-40
thinking machine, 68
threats, 266
three-card monte. See fraud and deception
Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There (Carroll), 309, 311, 321
Ti. See Applewhite, Marshall Herff
tied association. See advertising
time blocks in a fraud, 222
Tokyo Joe. See Park, Yun Soo Oh
Tolstoy, Leo, 109-10
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