What it is
Presenting two options as the only ones when more exist.
In the wild
Either we ship today or the project is dead.
How to answer it
Name a third option out loud. One is usually enough to break the frame.
False choices and ranges
False dilemma
Also called False dichotomy, either or fallacy
In depth
Origin and naming
Its simplest form is called the fallacy of bifurcation: one branch is offered, all others are suppressed, and the listener is pushed toward the offered one. No single thinker is credited with naming it; it became a staple of rhetoric and logic handbooks because every negotiation, election, and sales pitch keeps producing new specimens.
More places it shows up
You are either with the recall or you are defending a defective product.
You either love this city the way it is or you should move somewhere else.
Either we buy the enterprise license or everyone keeps using spreadsheets forever.
A parent says: finish your plate or you clearly do not appreciate what I cook.
How to spot it
- The two options arrive pre-packaged, often with one clearly meant to lose.
- The words 'either' and 'or' do heavy lifting, and nobody pauses to check the shelf behind them.
- When you suggest a third path, the reply is that it is not one of the options — as if that settled it.