Exaggerating
Also: Hyperbole, Mountain out of a Molehill, Magnification,
Catastrophizing, Sweeping Generalization
Class: Distort
Catastrophizing, Sweeping Generalization
Class: Distort
Arguing that something is much worse
or better than it really is.
or better than it really is.
Nobody believes you.
Maybe you don’t believe me, but you don’t get to speak for everyone else.
Parents are furious about the new school policy!
Well, two parents were upset. Please don’t exaggerate.
Cutting defense spending will undermine our whole military!
Let’s not lose perspective. They’re only cutting 2% from the budget.
Conservatives are proposing a bill to require teachers to carry guns!
You mean two senators proposed that bill. No one else supports it.
Tip: Watch for “Always”, “Never”, “All the time”, “Everyone”, “No one”, etc.Vocab: Hyperbole (hi-PER-buh-lee) is an extreme exaggeration. Hyperbolic (hi-per-BALL-ik) is the adjective, like a “hyperbolic statement”.
Foolacy vs. Fallacy
Traditional fallacies do not include exaggeration by itself. Exaggeration is usually false facts, conjecture, opinion, or an element of a specific fallacy.
However, I believe Exaggeration should be added as a foolacy because it is so similar to the Straw Man foolacy. Most Straw Man arguments use exaggeration to misrepresent the opponent’s position. Other arguments use exaggeration to misrepresent reality. The distinction is so minor, and you might not even be able to tell the difference without further research. Like other fallacies, exaggerations are a common cheat in many arguments to fool people. Exaggeration is very common, starting at a young age, so it’s easy for young learners to identify. (Philosophers may have dismissed this for being too elementary.) So I added Exaggerating as a catch-all foolacy for anything that is hard to place in more specific foolacies.