Anthony Chaffee MD

Forced equivalence

AI detected as: False Equivalence

Presenting two things as equally valid when they aren't. By giving equal weight to a well-supported position and a fringe one, it manufactures the appearance of legitimate debate. Feels like fairness — "hearing both sides" — even when one side has overwhelming evidence.

Boykoff & Boykoff (2004) on media false balance

In-group/Out-group framing

AI detected as: Disgust-based Framing

Leveraging your tendency to automatically trust information from "our people" and distrust outsiders. Once groups are established, people apply different standards of evidence depending on who is speaking.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979); Cialdini's Unity principle (2016)

Biological Essentialism

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

In-group/Out-group framing

AI detected as: Teleological Framing

Leveraging your tendency to automatically trust information from "our people" and distrust outsiders. Once groups are established, people apply different standards of evidence depending on who is speaking.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979); Cialdini's Unity principle (2016)

Anchoring

Presenting an extreme number or claim first so everything after seems reasonable by comparison. The first piece of information becomes your reference point — even when it's arbitrary or deliberately inflated. Works even when you know the anchor is irrelevant.

Tversky & Kahneman's anchoring heuristic (1974)

Medical Oversimplification For Commercial Conversion

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

Responsibility reframing

AI detected as: Pseudoscientific Reframing Of Biological Symptoms

Reframing a situation so the person who caused harm appears to be the real victim, and the actual victim appears responsible. It forces observers to reconsider who deserves sympathy, distracting from the original wrongdoing.

Freyd's DARVO framework (1997) — Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender

Biological Reductionism

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

Forced equivalence

Presenting two things as equally valid when they aren't. By giving equal weight to a well-supported position and a fringe one, it manufactures the appearance of legitimate debate. Feels like fairness — "hearing both sides" — even when one side has overwhelming evidence.

Boykoff & Boykoff (2004) on media false balance

In-group/Out-group framing

Leveraging your tendency to automatically trust information from "our people" and distrust outsiders. Once groups are established, people apply different standards of evidence depending on who is speaking.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979); Cialdini's Unity principle (2016)

Responsibility reframing

Reframing a situation so the person who caused harm appears to be the real victim, and the actual victim appears responsible. It forces observers to reconsider who deserves sympathy, distracting from the original wrongdoing.

Freyd's DARVO framework (1997) — Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender

Appeal to authority

Citing an expert or institution to support a claim, substituting their credibility for evidence you can evaluate yourself. Legitimate when the authority is relevant; manipulative when they aren't qualified or when the citation is vague.

Argumentum ad verecundiam (Locke, 1690); Cialdini's Authority principle (1984)

Single-cause framing

Attributing a complex outcome to a single cause, ignoring the web of contributing factors. A clean explanation is more satisfying and easier to act on than a complicated one. Especially effective when the proposed cause is something you already dislike.

Fallacy of the single cause; Kahneman's WYSIATI principle