Non sequitur fallacy [#FallacyFridays]
Welcome to #FallacyFridays! Every Friday is an opportunity for us to learn about the leaps in logic that we might make. And, of course, why we should avoid them. “Leaps in logic” couldn’t be more appropriate for the logical fallacy we’re talking about today: the non sequitur fallacy. Keep on reading to learn how it works and test your understanding of it with the quiz at the end. 🤓
If the non sequitur fallacy was a person, his name would be Patroyloin. He would be dressed in cargo shorts with multicolored polka dotted leggings underneath. His shoe of choice? Dark blue scuba flippers. His shirt? A faux fur blouse in an obnoxious shade of highlighter yellow. And a magician’s hat on his head to top it all off. In a sparkly brown, of course.
Now, I am not a professional fashionista. But I think I have enough of an understanding of fashion to say that Patroyloin’s appearance makes no sense. From his name to his clothing choice, there is no coherence. Even his conception did not make sense.
(But we really do not have to go there.)
All of the above is precisely why Patroyloin is the non-sequitur fallacy personified: he, like the fallacy, has incoherent characteristics.
It is no wonder then that the word non-sequitur is Latin for “does not follow.” This fallacy occurs when the conclusion made in the argument do not actually follow from the premises (or reasons put forward).
To get a better look at this trainwreck of a logical fallacy, let’s look at some examples.
Example #1 of the non sequitur fallacy
Bonnie has an obsession with cats. No, but like…seriously. Her entire bedroom wall is lined with posters, calendars (even past ones), figurines, decals, and photos of those adorable felines.
She concludes that dogs do not deserve the attention they get from the general public because, if they did, the cat that meddled in her patio two weeks ago would not have visited her as she was cooking her favorite meal.
“It’s a sign,” she whispers in your ear.
This is the part where you tell her to back up a bit. This is also the part where you let her know that there is zero logical connection between whether or not dogs deserve the attention they get and the cat that came to her patio.
“That doesn’t follow, sis,” you tell her matter-of-factly.
It is, in fact, a non-sequitur.
If we were to set up Bonnie’s argument in a syllogism (or pattern showing the progression of her argument), it would look like this:
P1: A cat came to visit while I was cooking my favorite meal.
Conclusion: Therefore, dogs are not worth the attention they are getting.
Sidenote: P1, P2, etc. in syllogisms stand for the premises or reasons that lead to the conclusion.
There is no logical connection between a cat visiting her while cooking her favorite meal and why another animal is undeserving of attention.
Example #2 of this illogical abomination.
Ifeanyi is starting to catch feelings for this girl, Rachel, in his chemistry class. With a little more self-confidence than usual, he tells himself,
Once that bell rings, I’m going ahead of her to wait by the door and talk to her.
The bell has rung. It’s game time, baby.
But little does he know that a non sequitur moment awaits him.
Ifeanyi rushes out the door hurriedly, trying not to make it blatantly obvious that he’s under a time crunch. He’s standing right by the door in the hallway, right foot against the wall behind him. His hand cupping his exhale for a quick breath check. Odorless.
Perfect.
Rachel’s head barely makes it out of the doorway.
“Hey,” Ifeanyi greets with confident coolness.
“Hi,” Rachel says a bit caught off-guard but nonetheless welcoming of him. “Your eyes. They are brown just like my mom’s. She’s super athletic. So naturally, you must be athletic too.”
“Oh you know…I do play ball a little here and here,” Ifeanyi smirks.
“I knew it. See That’s the thing with brown-eyed people. My eyes may be blue but even I know that brown-eyed people are just made to be super fit.”
“Oh really,” he says, his head cocked to the side. Yesss. I’m in, Ifeanyi tells himself.
But there’s a problem here. Rachel seems like is a sweetheart and all. But her claim was a non sequitur. Her argument is pretty much as follows,
P1: My mom has brown eyes.
P2: She is athletic.
P3: Ifeanyi has brown eyes.
Conclusion: Therefore he is athletic.
Looking at Rachel’s argument a bit closer, we see that there is no logical connection between eye color and athleticism. Neither is there any logically justified reason why Rachel’s mom’s physical characteristics means that others with brown eyes must have that trait. It just does not follow.
It’s non sequitur galore.
When the non sequitur fallacy goes by other names.
Like we’ve already covered, the non sequitur fallacy occurs when the conclusion does not follow from the premises (or reasons put forward). And guess what? This very thing can happen with other fallacies!
Take the denying the antecedent and affirming the consequent as examples. Both of them are fallacies precisely because of the way the argument constructed. Both of them have a series of premises and conclusions that just don’t follow. And because of this flaw in the way these arguments are built, they are excellent examples of non sequitur fallacies.
RELATED: Affirming the Consequent fallacy and Denying the Antecedent fallacy.
Pro-Tip: To see if an argument contains a non-sequitur fallacy, set it up as a syllogism. In other words, note its premise(s) and the conclusion of the argument. Then ask yourself, “Do the premises actually lead to the conclusion?” If they don’t, then you’ve got yourself a non sequitur.
Quiz time!
Below are 4 answer choices. Which one contains the non sequitur fallacy?
A. “You are only 10 years old, yet you are wise beyond your years. No wonder you are the class president. The age of eligibility for presidency should be lowered to 10 so you can become president of our nation.
B. “You are under no obligation to help the less fortunate. You can choose to or choose not to. Feeling guilted into doing it does not necessarily mean you must.”
C. “The last time someone tested my patience, they got their teeth knocked out. I would prefer that you not test me. Thanks.”
D. “If you get an A, you pass the class. You received an A. Therefore, you passed the class.”
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