21. How Not to Argue Like an Idiot…The 15 Most Common Logical Fallacies

The author argues that many times, logical fallacies are used to debate or preach the Christian beliefs. According to him, flaws in reasoning are even used by respected and well-known figures, such as C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, and Jonathon Edwards. The author has witnessed many different types of logical fallacies, so he has decided to comprise a list of the top 15 most commonly used. He also points out that logic is merely a tool to be used and has limited value, because it would be, ironically, a fallacy to claim that logic is authoritative. 

Many examples of "Correlation Equals Causation" logical fallacy are found in the book Freakonomics, because the book tries to disprove the fallacies mentioned. One of them involves the story of a mayor of a city. The city has a baseball team and every time the team wins, the people celebrate extensively. The mayor noticed the correlation between winning and celebrating and decided to act. He assumed that if the people celebrated, the team would win. Therefore, in his mind, it made sense that he ordered the crowd to celebrate right before the ball is hit. A hasty celebration would guarantee them the victory. Unfortunately, that is not how things work.