The Slippery Slope

The Slippery Slope

A Logical Fallacy

Hmm... Delicious!

A donut today, will make you obese

1. If I cheat my diet and eat this donut today, I’ll want another one tomorrow.

2. And I’ll get another one tomorrow, and add a slice of cake.

3. Then I’ll abandon my diet altogether and keep eating sweets.

4. And then I’ll surely become too fat, even obese!

What is a Slippery Slope?

A boiling frog? A camel's nose?

Definition

It is an argument that suggests taking a small step will lead to chain of events resulting in major and sometimes ludicrous consequences, usually in a negative light.

 So, if event A occurs, other related events will follow and it will surely lead to Z, an extremely bad, undesirable consequence!


One small step... to doom!

If A happens, then B will.

And if B happens, C will too!

And then, it'll be Z before you know it!

An example

If we legalise magic mushrooms, soon every student will quit school and join a cult.

“Many slippery slopes focus on catastrophe, but the slope to an extremely positive outcome is just as slippery.”

- Ted-Ed’s Demon of Reason || 2021

Create one slippery slope!
Bonus points: A positive slope example

A big leap! Or a long slide down!

Slippery slope arguments focus exclusively on the extreme outcomes, assigning those outcomes a degree of certainty or inevitability that rarely corresponds to reality. 

They divert attention from more likely possibilities, foreclosing discussions that might be more productive and that’s when they’re made in good faith. 

A domino of a chance, but not an inevitability.

These complex real world events are not like dominos where when the first one falls, it becomes a certainty that the last will fall. 

For any one of these events, there are a possible number of other outcomes could result, each affecting other events in different ways. 

The possibilities are not a chain, they’re a web.

So remember,

Don't forget your pen!