Editing Faulty generalization (section)

{{Short description|Conclusion made on the basis of one or few instances of a phenomenon}}
A '''faulty generalization''' is an [[informal fallacy]] wherein a conclusion is drawn about all or many instances of a phenomenon on the basis of one or a few instances of that phenomenon.  It is similar to a [[proof by example]] in [[mathematics]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Bennett|first=Bo|url=https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/100/Hasty-Generalization|title=Hasty Generalization|website=logicallyfallacious.com|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref> It is an example of [[jumping to conclusions]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/#HastyGeneralization|title=Hasty Generalization|last=Dowden|first=Bradley|website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref> For example, one may [[generalization|generalize]] about all people or all members of a group from what one knows about just one or a few people:

* If one meets a rude person from a given country X, one may suspect that most people in country X are rude.
* If one sees only white swans, one may suspect that all swans are white.

Expressed in more precise philosophical language, a '''fallacy of defective induction''' is a [[consequent|conclusion]] that has been made on the basis of weak premises, or one which is not justified by sufficient or unbiased evidence.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/hasty-generalization-fallacy-1690919|title=Logical Fallacies: Examples of Hasty Generalizations|last=Nordquist|first=Richard|website=ThoughtCo|language=en|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref> Unlike [[fallacies of relevance]], in fallacies of defective induction, the premises are related to the conclusions, yet only weakly buttress the conclusions, hence a faulty generalization is produced. The essence of this [[inductive fallacy]] lies on the overestimation of an argument based on insufficiently large samples under an implied margin of error.<ref name=":2" />