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[wikipe] Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia Search [ ] [Search] [Go] * Create account * Log in [ ] Personal tools * Create account * Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more * Contributions * Talk [ ] Contents move to sidebar hide * (Top) * 1History * 2Perfect solution fallacy Toggle Perfect solution fallacy subsection + 2.1Examples * 3See also * 4References * 5Further reading Toggle the table of contents [ ] Toggle the table of contents Nirvana fallacy [ ] 13 languages * l`rby@ * Catala * Deutsch * Espanol * Francais * `bryt * Magyar * Polski * Portugues * Suomi * aithy * Ukrayins'ka * Zhong Wen Edit links * Article * Talk [ ] English * Read * Edit * View history [ ] Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions * Read * Edit * View history General * What links here * Related changes * Upload file * Special pages * Permanent link * Page information * Cite this page * Wikidata item Print/export * Download as PDF * Printable version From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Informal fallacy in comparing actualities with ideals The nirvana fallacy is the informal fallacy of comparing actual things with unrealistic, idealized alternatives.^[1] It can also refer to the tendency to assume there is a perfect solution to a particular problem. A closely related concept is the "perfect solution fallacy". By creating a false dichotomy that presents one option which is obviously advantageous--while at the same time being completely implausible--a person using the nirvana fallacy can attack any opposing idea because it is imperfect. Under this fallacy, the choice is not between real world solutions; it is, rather, a choice between one realistic achievable possibility and another unrealistic solution that could in some way be "better". History[edit] In La Begueule (1772), Voltaire wrote Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien, which is often translated as "The perfect is the enemy of the good" (literally: "The better is the enemy of the good"). The nirvana fallacy was given its name by economist Harold Demsetz in 1969,^[2]^[3] who said:^[1] The view that now pervades much public policy economics implicitly presents the relevant choice as between an ideal norm and an existing "imperfect" institutional arrangement. This nirvana approach differs considerably from a comparative institution approach in which the relevant choice is between alternative real institutional arrangements. Perfect solution fallacy[edit] The perfect solution fallacy is a related informal fallacy that occurs when an argument assumes that a perfect solution exists or that a solution should be rejected because some part of the problem would still exist after it were implemented.^[4] This is an example of black and white thinking, in which a person fails to see the complex interplay between multiple component elements of a situation or problem, and, as a result, reduces complex problems to a pair of binary extremes. It is common for arguments which commit this fallacy to omit any specifics about exactly how, or how badly, a proposed solution is claimed to fall short of acceptability, expressing the rejection only in vague terms. Alternatively, it may be combined with the fallacy of misleading vividness, when a specific example of a solution's failure is described in emotionally powerful detail but base rates are ignored (see availability heuristic). The fallacy is a type of false dilemma. Examples[edit] Posit (fallacious) These anti-drunk driving ad campaigns are not going to work. People are still going to drink and drive no matter what. Rebuttal Complete eradication of drunk driving is not the expected outcome. The goal is reduction. Posit (fallacious) Seat belts are a bad idea. People are still going to die in car crashes. Rebuttal While seat belts cannot make driving 100% safe, they do reduce one's likelihood of dying in a car crash. Posit (fallacious) Medical testing on animals is useless. The drug thalidomide passed animal tests but resulted in horrific birth defects when used by pregnant women. Rebuttal This popular argument ignores all the thousands of drugs that failed animal testing, any number of which could have harmed humans. In the case of thalidomide, no testing was performed on pregnant animals; had this not been the case, the effect on pregnant women could have been foreseen. See also[edit] * Appeal to consequences * Cutting off the nose to spite the face * Emotional memory * Optimism bias * Perfect is the enemy of good * Pollyanna principle * Wishful thinking References[edit] 1. ^ ^a ^b Demsetz, Harold (1969). "Information and Efficiency: Another Viewpoint". The Journal of Law & Economics. 12 (1): 1-22. doi:10.1086/466657. JSTOR 724977. S2CID 222327886. Quoted in Kirzner, Israel M. (1978). Competition and Entrepreneurship. p. 231. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-15486-9_14. ISBN 0-226-43776-0. 2. ^ Leeson, Peter T. (August 6, 2007). "Anarchy unbound, or: why self-governance works better than you think". Cato Unbound. Cato Institute. Retrieved July 1, 2009. 3. ^ Shapiro, Daniel (2007). Is the welfare state justified?. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-521-86065-9. 4. ^ Cox, James. "Logical Fallacies". Illinois State University. Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017. Further reading[edit] * Browne, M Neil; Keeley, Stuart M (2004). Asking the right questions: a guide to critical thinking (7th. ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-182993-0. OCLC 50813342. * v * t * e Common fallacies (list) * Affirming a disjunct * Affirming the consequent In propositional * Denying the antecedent logic * Argument from fallacy * Masked man * Mathematical fallacy * Existential In quantificational * Illicit conversion logic * Proof by example * Quantifier shift Formal * Affirmative conclusion from a negative premise * Negative conclusion from affirmative premises * Exclusive premises Syllogistic fallacy * Existential * Necessity * Four terms * Illicit major * Illicit minor * Undistributed middle * Equivocation * False equivalence * False attribution Equivocation * Quoting out of context * Loki's Wager * No true Scotsman * Reification * Circular reasoning / Begging the question * Loaded language Question-begging + Leading question * Compound question / Loaded question / Complex question * No true Scotsman * False dilemma + Perfect solution Correlative-based * Denying the correlative * Suppressed correlative * Composition Illicit * Division transference * Ecological * Accident Secundum quid * Converse accident * Anecdotal evidence * Sampling bias + Cherry picking + McNamara Faulty * Base rate / Conjunction generalization * Double counting * False analogy * Slothful induction * Overwhelming exception * Accent * False precision * Moving the goalposts Ambiguity * Quoting out of context * Slippery slope * Sorites paradox * Syntactic ambiguity * Animistic + Furtive * Correlation implies causation + Cum hoc + Post hoc Questionable * Gambler's cause + Inverse * Regression * Single cause * Slippery slope * Texas sharpshooter * Law/Legality Informal * Stone / Proof by assertion * Argumentum ad baculum Consequences * Wishful thinking * Children * Fear * Flattery * Novelty Appeals * Pity * Ridicule * In-group favoritism Emotion * Invented here / Not invented here * Island mentality * Loyalty * Parade of horribles * Spite * Stirring symbols * Wisdom of repugnance * Appeal to motive * Association + Reductio ad Hitlerum o Godwin's law + Reductio ad Stalinum Ad hominem * Bulverism * Poisoning the well * Tone * Tu quoque Genetic / * Whataboutism Gene based * Authority + Accomplishment + Ipse dixit + Poverty / Wealth * Etymology * Nature * Tradition / Novelty + Chronological snobbery * Ad nauseam + Sealioning Arguments * Argument from anecdote * Argument from silence * Argument to moderation * Argumentum ad populum * Cliche Other fallacies * I'm entitled to my opinion of relevance * Ignoratio elenchi * Invincible ignorance * Moralistic / Naturalistic * Motte-and-bailey fallacy * Rationalization * Red herring + Two wrongs make a right * Special pleading * Straw man # Category * Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title= Nirvana_fallacy&oldid=1137186325" Category: * Informal fallacies Hidden categories: * Articles with short description * Short description matches Wikidata * Use mdy dates from April 2012 * This page was last edited on 3 February 2023, at 07:40 (UTC). * Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0 ; additional terms may apply. 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