False Dilemma or False Dichotomy
- False Dilemmas oversimplify by making us choose from two unappealing alternatives.
- Senators investigating the Oil for Food scandal, interrogated a British
member of the House of Commons over the acceptance of money from an Iraqi
businessman. The senators kept asking him questions for which the answer could
only be Yes or No, where those types of answers would invariably paint the
witness in a negative light.
Oppositional Thinking: Polarization.
- All-Good or All-bad thinking. Two opposites with no middle ground. Good or Evil. Politicians use oppositional thinking to further their agendas all the time. The statement "We will lower the prime lending rate to bolster the economy and fight inflation" did not motivate credit card companies to in turn lower their interest rates to help consumers.
- "Your either with us or against us." --President G.W. Bush.