Golden Mean Fallacy: Difference between revisions

* [[Illuminatus|The Bavarian Illuminati]] however know that there must always be 5 sides.

* The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] novel ''[[X Wing Series|Isard's Revenge]]'' deals with this. The New Republic has made claims about an ex-Imperial warlord; the warlord has publicly made claims that are the exact opposite. Rogue Squadron, watching the news, note glumly that most people will probably assume the truth is in the middle somewhere.

* Embodied by the Triple Demons of Compromise from ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]''. One's tall and thin, one's short and fat, and the third is exactly like the other two. They are endlessly traveling in circles because the first says left, the second says right, and the third agrees with both of them. They always settle their differences by doing what none of them really want, leaving them in a permanently foul mood.

* In [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s ''Magic'', the Duke is prone to such flights of fancy as donating to both sides of the issue.

'''DOCTOR'''. [''Examining his cheque.''] Very. But this is rather curious. He has also given £50 to the league for opposing the new public-house. }}

* In ''[[Dilbert|The Dilbert Principle]]'', the chapter "How to Get Your Way" suggests using the "Final Suggestion Maneuver" to get the last word in business meetings. The technique involves staying uninvolved throughout the entire meeting as conflicting suggestions are made, then chiming in at the last minute by disguising your suggestion as a composite of everyone else's. The theory behind this maneuver is that everyone will be so desperate to leave that they'll rush to accept your suggestion without questioning it.

* Subverted in the [[Judgment of Solomon]] from the Old Testament. Two women each claim to be a boy's mother. Solomon cannot tell who is lying, so he declares that he will cut the baby in half and give each woman her 'share.' The boy's true mother gives up her claim so that the child lives, which reveals who truly loved him. Subverted in that Solomon never intended this as a legitimate solution but only a trap to catch out the liar, leading to the phrase "splitting the baby" when someone destroys the subject of a dispute rather than assign it to one party.

* Neatly illustrated by [[Samuel Johnson]] in ''The History of Rasselas''. Rasselas falls prey to this fallacy, and is called on it by his sister Nekayah (quoting their friend, the poet Imlac):

 

 

** At the end of the episode "Illegal," McCoy has finished preparing a report on whether or not a violent incident between police and protesters constituted a "police riot." He concludes that, after reading it, "both sides will be angry with me." His deputy replies, "You probably got it right, then."

* ''[[The West Wing]]'', unusually for a political show, subverts this. Since it's about the President, there's plenty of compromise, but not because it's better; it's just what can get passed by an opposing Congress. And it's not unheard-of for one side to win. The merits of moderation were a matter of some heated debate in one episode:

'''Josh''': What about the vast arenas of debate a moderate won't even address? A mind like Lang? Let them pick a conservative with a mind like Justice Brady had. You can hate his position, but he was a visionary. He blew the whole thing open. He changed the whole argument... }}

** They manage, with some finagling, to get one liberal judge and one conservative judge to balance each other out, as opposed to the one moderate judge that they were arguing over. This allows for both positions to be represented while not having to settle for "moderation."

* Discussed in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7hhT22seTY this] Angry Aussie video, as an argument when discussing creationists' arguments against evolution.

* Parodied in a ''Scientific American'' [http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=okay-we-give-up April Fool's joke]:

 

 

** Arguably [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the episode in which Homer gets his jaw wired shut. In the middle of a long story about the old days, Grandpa says: "...after that, things got pretty quiet until FDR challenged Superman to a race around the world. FDR beat him by a furlong, or so the stories say. The truth lies somewhere in between..."

** And then there's the debacle with the children of Springfield trying to figure out why all the adults had disappeared from the streets after Grampa started selling his aphrodisiac:

* ''[[South Park]]'' uses this trope a lot to deliver its message. [[Strawman Political|Strawman Politicals]] from both sides clash and make the problem worse, until someone delivers a final speech concluding that neither side is correct. For example, we shouldn't support the Boy Scouts' decision to exclude membership to gays, but we also shouldn't try to bring down the organization because of the positive effect it continues to have on our youth. Sometimes, the solutions have been highly unconvincing compromises presented as perfect for everyone, giving rise to complaints that the makers try to force the trope. Through the show's many seasons, however, they have lampshaded and subverted the common formula a number of times.

* ''[[Futurama]]'' made fun of this at the end of one episode, where Bender states the moral he learned:

"I don't know, Leela. Do you think you could survive a 600-foot fall?" }}