| Fallacies of insufficiency are cases where insufficient evidence is provided |
| in support of a claim. Probably most common fallacies fall within this |
| category. Here are a few popular types: |
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| ## Limited sampling |
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| * Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles, died at the age of 96. He said he ate instant noodles everyday. So instant noodles cannot be bad for your health. |
| * A black cat crossed my path this morning, and I got into a traffic accident this afternoon. Black cats are really unlucky. |
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| In both cases the observations are relevant to the conclusion, but a lot more |
| data is needed to support the conclusion, e.g. Studies show that many other |
| people who eat instant noodles live longer, and those who encounter black cats |
| are more likely to suffer from accidents. |
|
|
| ## Appeal to ignorance |
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| * We have no evidence showing that he is innocent. So he must be guilty. |
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| If someone is guilty, it would indeed be hard to find evidence showing that he |
| is innocent. But perhaps there is no evidence to point either way, so lack of |
| evidence is not enough to prove guilt. |
|
|
| ## Naturalistic fallacy |
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| * Many children enjoy playing video games, so we should not stop them from playing. |
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| Many naturalistic fallacies are examples of fallacy of insufficiency. |
| Empirical facts by themselves are not sufficient for normative conclusions, |
| even if they are relevant. |
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| There are many other kinds of fallacy of insufficiency. See if you can |
| identify some of them. |
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