A conspiracy theorist asserts: 'No scientist has ever disproven the existence of subterranean civilizations in Antarctica; therefore, they must exist.' Which fallacy is evident?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. Appeal to ignorance claiming truth from lack of contradictory proof

  1. Step 1: The speaker claims subterranean civilizations exist solely because no one has produced definitive proof that they do not. Asserting that a claim must be true because it has not been proven false (or vice versa) is an appeal to ignorance (argumentum ad ignorantiam). Answer: Appeal to ignorance claiming truth from lack of contradictory proof. Why not the others: "Hasty generalization sample" draws a broad universal conclusion from an inadequate statistical sample; "Fallacy of division error" wrongly assumes that what is true of a whole must be true of each part; "Post hoc causal flaw" confuses chronological sequence with direct causal relationship between events.

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