The Anecdotal Fallacy

Alias: The Volvo Fallacy1

Taxonomy: Logical Fallacy > Informal Fallacy > Weak Analogy > Biased Sample > The Anecdotal Fallacy2

Example:

Last year, tens of millions of people bought life insurance for scheduled flights of airlines in the United States. Not one of those insured passengers died in a crash…. [T]ravel insurance…is now purchased by half of American leisure travelers―a fivefold increase since 2001, according to the United States Travel Insurance Association. As a purely economic investment, some of this insurance can be dubious, particularly the flight insurance policies. … Because calamities are so vivid and easily brought to mind, we tend to overestimate their probability when we intuitively judge what will happen….3

Exposition:

The Anecdotal Fallacy is committed when a recent memory, a striking anecdote, or a news story of an unusual event leads one to overestimate the probability of that type of event, especially when one has access to better evidence. In other words, the mistake is to allow the emotional effects of a vivid memory or story to outweigh stronger evidence, such as statistics, on the frequency of such events.

Exposure:


Notes:

  1. Richard E. Nisbett, Eugene Borgida, Rick Crandall & Harvey Reed, "Popular Induction: Information is Not Necessarily Informative", in Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases, Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic & Amos Tversky, editors, (1985), pp. 112-113. The source of the "Volvo fallacy" alias. The name comes from the following thought experiment:
    Let us suppose that you wish to buy a new car and have decided that on grounds of economy and longevity you want to purchase one of those solid, stalwart, middle class Swedish cars―either a Volvo or a Saab. As a prudent and sensible buyer, you go to Consumer Reports, which informs you that the consensus of their experts is that the Volvo is mechanically superior, and the consensus of the readership is that the Volvo has the better repair record. Armed with this information, you decide to go and strike a bargain with the Volvo dealer before the week is out. In the interim, however, you go to a cocktail party where you announce this intention to an acquaintance. He reacts with disbelief and alarm: "A Volvo! You've got to be kidding. My brother-in-law had a Volvo. First, that fancy fuel injection computer thing went out. 250 bucks. Next he started having trouble with the rear end. Had to replace it. Then the transmission and the clutch. Finally sold it in three years for junk."

    Would you still buy a Volvo?

    I prefer the name "Anecdotal Fallacy" to "Volvo Fallacy", despite the fact that the latter is the older name for this mistake. The problem with the elder name is that it connects to the mistake involved only through the story above. For those unfamiliar with or who do not remember the story of the brother-in-law's Volvo, the original name will not call this type of error to mind. In contrast, "Anecdotal Fallacy", while not perfect, should suggest the nature of the mistake committed, namely, treating a vivid anecdote as stronger evidence than dry statistics.

  2. This fallacy is a subfallacy of Biased Sample because, if the Anecdotal Fallacy is based on a single anecdote, then it is a hasty generalization. No matter how emotionally compelling a particular incident is, it is just one data point. If, instead, it is based on more than one anecdote, the set of such stories is unlikely to be representative of the class generalized about. This is especially true if the anecdotes are based on news stories, since journalists tend to write about unusually extreme events. What we read or hear about from the news media are the best or worst case scenarios.
  3. John Tierney, "Appeasing the Gods, With Insurance", The New York Times, 5/6/2008.
  4. Daniel Kahneman, Paul Slovic & Amos Tversky (editors), Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (Cambridge University Press, 1982), Part IV.
  5. Thanks to Stephen Rowe for a criticism of this passage which led me to revise it.
  6. With the possible exception of The Gambler's Fallacy.