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Hasty Generalization Fallacy

“After walking through this town for 10 minutes, I have seen several children but no adults. I guess all residents of this town are children!”

You make a hasty generalization when you jump to a conclusion without enough evidence. In other words, it means drawing an inference with too small of a sample size.

Hasty generalizations can lead to stereotypes. For example, if someone meets two people from a country and they are both rude, a hasty generalization might lead them to conclude that everyone from that country is rude.

Inductive reasoning, however, is not necessarily a fallacy and can be very useful. Inductive reasoning means using specific examples to draw general conclusions. For example, if medical professionals conclude, after working with many patients, that certain symptoms are likely to indicate a certain disease, this is inductive reasoning and it is not a fallacy.

Imagine you have a friend who undergoes a medical procedure, and the procedure causes no side effects. It would be a hasty generalization (and also the anecdotal fallacy) to conclude from this information alone that the medication causes no side effects.

But if a study had been conducted on the effects of this treatment on a large group of people and none of them had experienced side-effects, it would be rational to conclude that the medication is unlikely to produce side-effects. It is important to note that when we use inductive reasoning we can only talk about probabilities, not about certainties.

Back to the Logical Fallacy Handbook


Courses

Fallacy Detectors Part 1

Fallacy Detectors Part 1

Develop the skills to tackle logical fallacies through a series of 10 science-fiction videos with activities. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

US$15

A Statistical Odyssey

A Statistical Odyssey

Learn about common mistakes in data analysis with an interactive space adventure. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

US$10

Symbolic Logic for Teens Part 1

Symbolic Logic for Teens Part 1

Learn how to make sense of complicated arguments with 14 video lessons and activities. Recommended for ages 13 and up.

US$15

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

Learn to recognize, understand, and manage your emotions. Designed by child psychologist Ronald Crouch, Ph.D. Recommended for ages 5 and up.

US$15

Worksheets

Symbolic Logic Worksheets

Symbolic Logic Worksheets

Worksheets covering the basics of symbolic logic for children ages 12 and up.

US$5

Elementary School Worksheets and Lesson Plans

Elementary School Worksheets and Lesson Plans

These lesson plans and worksheets teach students in grades 2-5 about superstitions, different perspectives, facts and opinions, the false dilemma fallacy, and probability.

US$10

Middle School Worksheets and Lesson Plans

Middle School Worksheets and Lesson Plans

These lesson plans and worksheets teach students in grades 5-8 about false memories, confirmation bias, Occam's razor, the strawman fallacy, and pareidolia.

US$10

High School Worksheets and Lesson Plans

High School Worksheets and Lesson Plans

These lesson plans and worksheets teach students in grades 8-12 about critical thinking, the appeal to nature fallacy, correlation versus causation, the placebo effect, and weasel words.

US$10

Statistical Shenanigans Worksheets and Lesson Plans

Statistical Shenanigans Worksheets and Lesson Plans

These lesson plans and worksheets teach students in grades 9 and up the statistical principles they need to analyze data rationally.

US$10