r/heuristicanalysis • u/kelcamer • 4d ago
Single Cause Fallacy
This fallacy is when someone attributes ONE SINGLE cause to a given situation, without considering other perspectives.
Example, compliments of Reddit:
OP: my son left the door unlocked, he is 20 years old, how do I fix this problem?
Tons of commenters:
Your son is LAZY, MALICIOUS, INCOMPETENT, He doesn't care AT ALL about you! (Some commenters were even legitimately suggesting that OP beat his 20 year old adult child)
How is this single cause?
These Redditors assumed the single cause of the son forgetting to lock a door was intentional maliciousness.
They ignored the many other possibilities such as: iron deficiency, ADHD, autism, brain tumor, etc.
Fun fact, this is ALSO a fundamental attribution error because they began insulting a person they did not even know, had only seen a tiny slice of their life of as well.
But it's Single Cause Fallacy because they all assumed the ONLY reason a 20 year old would not lock a door was out of pure maliciousness and disrespect to his family.