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MENTAL MODEL · M12148

Appeal to Ignorance

Appeal to Ignorance
StructureHigh supportLogic
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28

CORE DEFINITION

Argument from ignorance (Latin: argumentum ad ignorantiam), or appeal to ignorance, is an informal fallacy where something is claimed to be true or false because of a lack of evidence to the contrary.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Argument from ignorance (Latin: argumentum ad ignorantiam), or appeal to ignorance, is an informal fallacy where something is claimed to be true or false because of a lack of evidence to the contrary.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Appeal to ignorance (Argument from Ignorance) asserts that a proposition is true because it cannot be proven false, or false because it cannot be proven true. It mistakenly treats the absence of evidence as evidence for the proposition, ignoring that 'lack of evidence' is not the same as 'evidence of absence'.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignoranceZH · Explicit
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