What is the anecdotal fallacy?
When people use a one-time experience, their limited personal poland whatsapp experience or that of an acquaintance to draw general conclusions about a subject, there is the anecdotal fallacy.
However, an anecdote or illogical argument does not constitute conclusive proof that something is always so. With the anecdotal fallacy, anecdote is preferred to scientifically based counter-evidence. The fallacy is common because personal experience is often also the only experience we have. On the surface, the conclusion seems true, but when you look at the roots, it is often a simplification of the problem, and many important details, other factors and scientific findings are left out in the conclusion we draw (Goodwin, 2009). This often involves other biases, such as the confirmation bias and the bandwagon effect.
How does the anecdotal fallacy arise?
It is attractive to think this way because it turns something complex into something simple. You don't have to spend further time sifting through arguments. Many people would rather be lazy than tired and go for the quick conclusion (Kahneman, 2011). But because critical details are left out, the wrong conclusions can be drawn (Goodwin, 2009).
Anecdotes appeal more than scientific theories. Concrete, human examples we can better imagine, which makes them seem more relevant. We sometimes trust the findings of someone we know better than abstract, statistical findings, but an exception to the rule does not mean the rule is wrong.
The anecdotal fallacy bears similarities to the post hoc fallacy, where when event B happens after event A, the conclusion is automatically drawn that event A is the cause of event B (Grouse, 2016). This is also known as fallacious reasoning.