False Analogy

                  When an analogy compares things that have different levels of magnitude, or in other words, that have greater negative or positive connotations than the topic, it is likely a False Analogy. For example, if one were to say that throwing litter out of ones car was like pouring a gallon of nitro glycerin into a small fish tank, then that would be a false analogy. You could say that the fish tank represents the world, and the fish the people, but the problem is the difference in the magnitudes. Though throwing a burger wrapper out the window will take a long time to decompose and will be ugly, it will not have the same terminal effect that a gallon of nitro glycerin in a small fish tank would have. Off course, I don’t really know for sure if nitro glycerin is toxic to fish, but perhaps if an electric eel were in the tank an explosion would occur.

                  Lets look at another example. If someone where to say that being asked to write a 400 word blog post is like having your hands and feet shackled in chains and being forced to strenuously operate an oar in a Roman ship, as happened to the main character in the movie Ben Hur, that would be a false analogy. It would be comparing it to something that is definitely a really bad situation, while life as a college student is not a similar situation. As a student you are willingly paying to receive an education that will be of great benefit to you and your future. While in the case of a slave on a Roman ship, they were there against their will doing something that would not benefit their future, but would rather likely cut their future short.

                  Another way to skew the balance of magnitude in an analogy would be to compare the topic to something that has a stronger positive connotation to make it look better, like saying; the more people ride bikes, the less cars will be driven, resulting in decreased pollution and healthier environments, its like fire fighters rescuing hundreds of baby orphans from a fire. The analogy compares bikes contributing to cleaner environments to the much greater action of saving baby orphans lives.

                  So how can this fallacy be identified in future situations? Simply view the topic and the analogy, and see if they have the same level of magnitude. If they do, then it is probably fine, if the levels are different, then it is likely a fallacy.