How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic (2006)

Cum hoc ergo propter hoc 41

'Cabbie, get me to the airport by ten o'clock!'

'This cab ain't got wings, mister.'

'Here's £20 if you make it. '

'Stand by for take-off!'

'My friend wants to know where Big M was last night. '

'Who's your friend?'

'He sent his picture.' [waves banknote]

'You can tell Sir Edward Elgar that Big M was at Molly's bar. '

A version of the argumentum ad crumenam helped in the success
of the Industrial Revolution. The belief that the virtues of thrift,
perseverance and hard work are rewarded by wealth led natu-
rally to its converse, that worldly goods were the hallmark of
virtue. A society in which one needs to make money to be
respected for moral worth is probably conducive to an expand-
ing economy.
Your own use of the fallacy is best reserved for situations
where you personally can ensure that money not only talks, but
positively monopolizes the conversation.

7 say we do it this way, and I own 60 per cent of the shares in this

company. '

[chorus] 'You're right, j.G.!'

This differs only in degree from the junior version:

7 say it was a goal, and it's my football. '

Cum hoc ergo propter hoc

The cum hoc fallacy assumes that events which occur together

are causally connected, and leaves no room either for