Texas sharpshooter fallacy

Sponsorship the way you would do it

The Texas sharpshooter fallacy is a logical fallacy where a cluster of statistically non-significant data is taken from its context, and therefore thought to have a common cause.

The name comes from a story about a Texan who fires his gun randomly at the side of a barn, then paints a target centered on the largest cluster of hits.

Examples

The roulette ball has landed on odd numbers eight times in a row now... there must be something wrong with it.
Hundreds of people have been killed by lightning strikes. Therefore, walking outside in a thunderstorm is deadly.
More children in town A have leukemia than in town B. Therefore, there must be something wrong with town A.

Texas sharpshooter fallacy

Examples

See also