Exaggerating
Also: Hyperbole, Mountain out of a Molehill, Magnification,
Catastrophizing, Sweeping Generalization
Class: Distort
Arguing that something is much worse
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!
Don’t exaggerate. Only two parents were midly upset.
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”.
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Foolacy vs. Fallacy
Traditional fallacies do not include exaggeration by itself. While exaggeration may be false facts, conjecture, or opinion, it is also a major element of other fallacies, such as Slippery Slope, Straw Man, False Dichotomy, and False Equivalence. Exaggeration is common in many arguments to fool people, just like all other fallacies. Whether or not the exaggeration is part of another fallacy is a minor distinction, therefore I added Exaggeration as a catch-all foolacy for anything that doesn’t fall into the more specific foolacies. Children start exaggerating at an early age, so it’s familiar and easy to identify. (Perhaps that is why philosophers dismissed exaggeration as too simple and elementary.)