# Genetic fallacy

*Also called: Fallacy of origins*

- **Cluster:** Attacks on the source — Judging the speaker instead of the argument
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/genetic/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/genetic.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Judging a claim by where it came from rather than what it says.

## In the wild

> That idea came from a marketing team, so it is worthless.

## How to answer it

Ask whether the origin changes the evidence. A good idea from a bad source is still good.

## Origin and naming

Named for 'genesis' — origin. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy traces the term to Morris Raphael Cohen and Ernest Nagel's 1934 textbook 'An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method', which warned against confusing how a belief arose with whether it is true.

## More places it shows up

- A manager dismisses a cost-saving proposal at review because 'it started as an intern's side project,' without opening the numbers.
- A reader rejects a documentary's findings on factory farming because the production company also makes entertainment shows.
- During a school board meeting, a parent objects to a new math curriculum on the grounds that its authors once worked for a testing company — and the objection is treated as a verdict.
- A patient dismisses a diet guideline solely because an early version of it was promoted by a cereal company decades ago.

## How to spot it

- Notice when the biography of an idea is offered as a substitute for its content.
- Notice when the word 'comes from' or 'started as' does all the argumentative work in the sentence.
- Notice when the same fact would be accepted instantly if it had arrived through a different door.

## Nearby

- [Ad hominem](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/ad-hominem.md)
- [Etymological fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/etymological.md)
- [Guilt by association](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/guilt-by-association.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_fallacy)
- [Logically Fallacious](https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Genetic-Fallacy)

---

From fallacy.wiki — a bilingual field guide to 91 logical fallacies, published by phi holdings. Licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse freely with attribution to fallacy.wiki.