# Slothful induction

*Also called: Denying the evidence*

- **Cluster:** Evidence and sampling — The data that was gathered, and the data that was not
- **Page:** https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/slothful-induction/
- **In Arabic:** https://fallacy.wiki/ar/fallacy/slothful-induction.md
- **Licence:** CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

## What it is

Refusing the conclusion that a strong body of evidence points to.

## In the wild

> Ten straight failures, but this time will be different.

## How to answer it

Ask what result would be enough, and note how many results have already passed it.

## Origin and naming

Named 'slothful induction' to mark the lazy mirror image of the hasty generalization: where one jumps to a conclusion on no evidence, this one refuses to land on one after plenty. Also called the 'appeal to coincidence' — each instance is waved away as chance. It is hasty generalization's stubborn twin.

## More places it shows up

- After the fifth contractor invoices late, the client still says each delay must have its own special reason — nothing to conclude here.
- A fan base watches its team lose ten straight matches and insists every loss was a referee's mistake or bad weather, never the squad.
- An employee has been passed over for promotion four cycles running and calls each decision 'office politics', never looking at the honest feedback.
- A town keeps losing power every storm, and the council writes each blackout up as a freak event rather than the grid.

## How to spot it

- Every single case gets its own bespoke excuse; no pattern is ever admitted.
- Ask 'at what count would you agree this is a pattern?' — the answer keeps sliding.
- The word 'coincidence' is doing heavy lifting, and it never pays the bill.

## Nearby

- [Gambler's fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/gamblers.md)
- [Wishful thinking](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/wishful-thinking.md)
- [Sunk cost fallacy](https://fallacy.wiki/fallacy/sunk-cost.md)

## Read more

- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slothful_induction)

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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.