Fallacymania: party game where you notice fallacies in arguments

post by Alexander230 · 2016-07-21T09:34:59.343Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 10 comments

Contents

10 comments

Fallacymania is a game developed by Moscow LessWrong community. Main goals of this game is to help people notice fallacies in arguments, and of course to have fun. The game requires 3-20 players (recommended 4-12), and some materials: printed A3 sheets with fallacies (5-10 sheets), card deck with fallacies (you can cut one A3 sheet into cards, or print stickers and put them to common playing cards), pens and empty sheets, and 1 card deck of any type with at least 50 cards (optional, for counting guessing attempts). Rules of the game are explained here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzyKVqP6n3hKY3lQTVBuODRjRU0/view?resourcekey=0-SoMANgi5h_NQiJ4QGxHuuw

This is the sheet of fallacies, you can download it and print on A3 or A2 sheet of paper:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzyKVqP6n3hKRXZ5N2tZcDVlMW8/view?resourcekey=0-gbuigoHnERbxY5llHDwBqA

Also you can use this sheet to create playing cards for debaters.

UPD: There is also a version made by Luca Versari for printing on multiple A4 sheets of paper:

Player sheets: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v_CkPf_8UZw5yGDrguUwtfJJDjzSif2G/view?usp=share_link

Card stickers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jo7JIp7YvLXw18u68NJCf0xtJHCrvMEs/view?usp=share_link


When we created this game, we used these online articles and artwork about fallacies:

http://obraz.io/ru/posters/poster_view/1/?back_link=%2Fru%2F&lang=en&arrow=right

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rhetological-fallacies/

http://www.lesswrong.com/lw/e95/the_noncentral_fallacy_the_worst_argument_in_the/ [? · GW]

Also I've made electronic version of Fallacymania for Tabletop Simulator (in Steam Workshop):

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=723941480

10 comments

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comment by Gunnar_Zarncke · 2016-07-21T20:17:18.021Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Great bias cards!

Replies from: Alexander230
comment by Alexander230 · 2016-07-21T20:27:55.864Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

They are fallacy cards. Fallacy can be explained as "faulty reasoning" or "bad argument", and cognitive bias is "mistake in thinking". They have many similarities and intersections, though.

Replies from: Gunnar_Zarncke, Crux
comment by Gunnar_Zarncke · 2016-07-21T21:00:38.967Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yeah. both.

comment by Crux · 2016-07-23T03:29:03.284Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

What's the difference? I don't see a distinction between the phrases "faulty reasoning" and "mistake in thinking".

Replies from: Alexander230
comment by Alexander230 · 2016-07-24T08:51:07.332Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Reasoning is when you tell your arguments to another person. Thinking is when you make decisions for yourself.

Replies from: Crux
comment by Crux · 2016-07-24T12:10:37.154Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I now see what you mean by fallacies being X (errors in argumentation) and cognitive biases Y (errors in thinking).

However, you're using an idiosyncratic definition of the word "reasoning", and I would advise you to update your understanding so you reduce the chance of confusing more people in the future. "Reasoning" in many cases refers to internal thinking, as you can see explained here.

Replies from: Alexander230
comment by Alexander230 · 2016-07-24T19:30:59.570Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Ok, thank you.

comment by pchvykov · 2023-02-21T01:45:10.415Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Can you please commercialize this gem? I (and probably many others) would totally buy it - but making it myself is a bit of a hurdle...

comment by Pimgd · 2016-07-25T11:52:31.279Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Card 29 has a typo. "hte game of hide and go seek". So does card 32: " had been debunked adn proven false"

Replies from: Alexander230
comment by Alexander230 · 2016-07-25T20:01:14.210Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Thank you, I will fix it and update in the workshop.

UPD: fixed, updated all links to the new version.