Scientific Definition
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
Plain-English Definition
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
Feynman Explanation
Shoot the messenger; ignore the message; report success.
Core Principle
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
Mechanisms
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Shoot the messenger; ignore the message; report success.
Examples
- Dismissing analysis because the analyst once worked for a competitor.
- Decision quality declines when credentials become the proxy for content.
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Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
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Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
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Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
It's true because authority says so.
Common sense says so, therefore it's true.
Believing something is true because of the consequences of its truth.
Claiming something is true because it hasn't been proven false (or vice versa).
If it's 'natural,' it's good.
It's better because it's newer.
It's right because it's how we've always done it.
I can't believe it; therefore it isn't true.
Saying it enough times until it sounds true.
It's true because many believe it.
Asking the other side to disprove an unsupported claim.
Concluding that because an argument contained a fallacy, its conclusion must be false.