All-Natural Snake Oil: Difference between revisions
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Ads which emphasise how natural their products are, are attempting to sell something by exploiting the [[You Fail Logic Forever|logical fallacy]] known as the [[Appeal to Nature]]. This means asserting that if something is natural, it must be good, and anything artificial is necessarily bad. |
Ads which emphasise how natural their products are, are attempting to sell something by exploiting the [[You Fail Logic Forever|logical fallacy]] known as the [[Appeal to Nature]]. This means asserting that if something is natural, it must be good, and anything artificial is necessarily bad. |
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In the foods and medical industries, this is one of the more common forms of [[Polish the Turd|turd polish.]] After all, there is nothing artificial in poison ivy or manure. |
In the foods and medical industries, this is one of the more common forms of [[Polish the Turd|turd polish.]] After all, there is nothing artificial in poison ivy or manure either. |
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It is worth noting that for something to be described as natural, it must simply have been produced without direct human intervention. Technically, a solution of [http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/05/ah_the_irony_of_it.php arsenic and mercury] in deadly nightshade sap could be sold as a natural substance because arsenic, mercury and deadly nightshade all occur in nature. In fact, the vendors could claim it reduces frequency of death due to cancer—and [[From a Certain Point of View|this would be true]], because you can't die of cancer if you've already died of poison. |
It is worth noting that for something to be described as natural, it must simply have been produced without direct human intervention. Technically, a solution of [http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/05/ah_the_irony_of_it.php arsenic and mercury] in deadly nightshade sap could be sold as a natural substance because arsenic, mercury and deadly nightshade all occur in nature. In fact, the vendors could claim it reduces frequency of death due to cancer—and [[From a Certain Point of View|this would be true]], because you can't die of cancer if you've already died of poison. |
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