History Main / FalseCause

* This fallacy was used by Frederic Wertham to establish UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode. He noted that [[TeensAreMonsters juvenile delinquents]] tended to read comic books, so [[NewMediaAreEvil comic books must cause juvenile delinquency]]. Of course, during this time period, comic books were more popular in America than ever before or ever since -- the typical child read about 5 comics a week. Even adults weren't far behind, many of whom had picked up the habit during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when comics were sent overseas to servicemen.

* In ''Lanark'' by ''Creator/AlasdairGray, Duncan Thaw is told by his doctor, who believes that his asthma is psychological, that most asylum inmates frequently have ADateWithRosiePalms. The young lad is, as intended, panicked by the thought that his own activities in that area will inevitably lead to madness. His friend Coulter points out that a far more likely explanation is that the asylum inmates, like the teenagers, have no other outlet for their urges.

->'''Pvt. Frazer:''' The Witch Doctor! He gave a scream that turned my blood to ice! He shook a bag of bones in Jethro's face, and he cursed him: "Death! The Ruby will bring ye death! DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH!\\

* The reason PTSD used to be called "shell shock" is because people thought it was caused by the artillery shells exploding. In reality, it was caused by the trauma of the war as a whole, but the artillery shells exploding could trigger an attack.

** It is also suggested that when the people first hear [[CryingWolf horror stories about marijuana]], and after experimenting realize that its effects are far less impressive and dangerous than advertised, they think that the same must apply to all the other drugs as well.
* Want to drive a Psychology major insane? Tell him Prozac can cause suicide. After he stops frothing at the mouth, he'll try to explain: "Prozac is prescribed to people with depression -- already statistically more likely to commit suicide. Prozac, like all depression medication, takes at least a few weeks to start working. Some depressed teenager probably killed themselves after starting it, but before it started working."

* When a laptop processor overheats, the cooling fan spins faster to try and compensate, a normal responses coded in the system BIOS. When this happens, a large number of people will call in technical support insisting on getting a new fan because it's "clearly heating up the system by spinning too hard."

* The logic behind the "roleplaying games cause suicide via Satanism" scares, such as the SatanicPanic of the [=1980s=], relied on this fallacy. Not only is there no causation from games like ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' to suicide, there's no correlation, either. People who play ''D&D'' are actually less likely to commit suicide, since the social interaction that comes from having like-minded people around you doing an activity you like is a big mood-booster. Old TTRPG books may have shown demons and devils on the covers of their books, but claiming that this promoted Satanism is also untrue; frequently, such a creature as an EvilOverlooker was showing what you were fighting against, not fighting for.

** A common counterargument to the queerphobes' claim is using left-handed people as an analogy; for a long time, left-handers were forced to write with their right hand because people thought being left-handed is a sign of being evil. When this belief fell and schools stopped requiring children to use their right hand, there was a "sudden increase" in left-handers recorded.

** Queerphobes would use the fact [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/02/17/adults-identifying-lgbt-gen-z/ more Gen Z people identify as queer]] than previous generations as proof that queer people are "[[AllGaysArePedophiles grooming children]]" and that homosexuality is a "choice," ignoring that queer people are far more likely to come out (or at least, have themselves registered as queer even if they are still in the closet) if gay marriage is legal, there's positive representation in fiction, resources/support widely available, or if their parents are less likely to kick them out/treat them badly for being queer, the same reason why LGBT+ people are less likely to come out in Anti-LGBT+ countries. Therefore, it wouldn't be "there's more queer people than there was before" but instead "higher acceptance of the LGBT+ community led to more LGBT+ people coming out."

* In ''VideoGame/NancyDrew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek'', the eponymous wolf is hunted by Ollie because she happens to show up whenever a disaster happens. In truth, the disasters are caused by a very human saboteur vacationing in the area. The wolf's appearances are entirely RedHerrings that foreshadow [[spoiler:her interest in human affection and activity, which ''is'' unusual but has a logical cause unrelated to the mystery.]]