Cherry Picking
Other Names
Description
Cherry picking is the act of pointing at individual cases or data that seem to confirm your position, while ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that contradict you.
Example
-I have ten unbiased, peer-reviewed, scientific studies that show the therapeutic benefits of homeopathy in treating back pain.
- Sure but you are ignoring the hundreds of studies that show that it does not work at all.
Famous Examples
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Hitler took the guns, Stalin took the guns, Mao took the guns, Fidel Castro took the guns, Hugo Chávez took the guns. And I am here to tell you, 1776 WILL COMMENCE AGAIN IF YOU TRY TO TAKE OUR FIREARMS!
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So many things happen for every event, and if you try to manipulate it, it means you are struggling against the whole universe, and that’s just silly.
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Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
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I was a great student. I was good at everything.
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I don’t think I’ve made mistakes. Every time somebody said I made a mistake, they do the polls and my numbers go up, so I guess I haven't made any mistakes.
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How could we lose you know Biggie, Pac, you know, Dilla, Steve Jobs, Michael Jackson. It almost makes you feel like the Devil's winning.
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A broken clock is right twice a day. So go out and get yourself 720 clocks.
Context: The Colbert Report (television show) -
Mr. Needful: Summer you know your grandfather's right. This store curses people.
Summer: Well yeah. Fast food gives people diabetes and clothing stores have sweat shops. Is there a company hiring teenagers that isn't evil?
Context: Rick and Morty season 1, episode 9 - Something Ricked This Way Comes -
Ted: Look, all I'm saying is that Boston women are, on the whole, a paler, uglier sort than women from the else where's of life.
John Bennett: That's bullshit. What about Lori? She's hot.
Ted: No, Lori is from Pennsylvania. That's not a Boston girl.
Context: Ted (film) -
GMOs are found in more than 70 percent of processed foods. More than sixty-four countries around the world require GMOs to be labeled or regulated. The United States does not.
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Unless the milk you're drinking is clearly marked "organic" or "rBGH free", it probably contains this hormone. Incidentally, Posilac is banned in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan. This should tell us something.
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A person who knows that Christianity is true on the basis of the witness of the Spirit may also have a sound apologetic which reinforces or confirms for him the Spirit's witness, but it does not serve as the basis of his belief. As long as reason is a minister of the Christian faith, Christians should employ it.
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