The following are common techniques used to deny science:

  • Fake Experts: Presenting an unqualified person or institution as a source of credible information.
  • Logical Fallacies: Arguments where the conclusion doesn’t logically follow from the premises.
  • Impossible Expectations: Demanding unrealistic standards of certainty before acting on the science.
  • Cherry Picking: Carefully selecting data that appear to confirm one position while ignoring other data that contradicts that position.
  • Conspiracy Theory: Proposing a secret plan to implement a nefarious scheme such as hiding a truth or perpetuating misinformation.
  • Red Herring: Diverting attention to an irrelevant point to distract from the original argument.
  • False Choice: Presenting two options as the only possibilities, when other possibilities exist.

Identify the denial technique that best matches the arguments below.

Spanking is not harmful. My parents spanked me as a child and I turned out fine.
Either evolution happened, or God exists.
I have green eyes so I’m an expert in kung fu!
We need more research before we can be 100% sure that vaccination is safe.
Big Pharma are keeping people sick in order to sell more drugs.
My grandmother smoked until she was 95, so smoking isn’t unhealthy.
A Harvard physicist says vaccinations can cause autism.
NASA faked the moon landing to win the space race with the Soviets.
Evolution is a bad explanation for human life—it’s offensive to suggest I came from a monkey!
Professor Smith who holds a PhD in computer science says evolution is not settled science.
I don’t believe in God because religious people are hypocrites.
You're either with us or against us.
Until we find all missing links, we can’t be confident of the theory of evolution.
If you weigh the same as a duck, then, logically, you’re made of wood and must be a witch.