Mistakes are made in every state, in every city, and in every neighborhood. No race or gender is immune from making a mistake. So, what is an error? Patrick J. Hurley defines an error as “a flaw in an argument that consists of something other than false premises.” These flaws lead to misconceptions in an argument. Often they are accidental, other times they are done intentionally. Regardless, the errors can be very convincing to the casual reader or listener. One of them in particular, the false cause fallacy, is used quite often in today's society. Hurley states that “the false cause fallacy occurs whenever the connection between premises and conclusion depends on an imaginary causal connection that probably does not exist. » For example: Every time my son wears his dirty socks to a soccer game, his team wins. Therefore, to prevent the team from losing a game, he must continue to wear the same socks in every game. However, just because one event appears to influence another, as noted above, does not mean that the first does not necessarily cause the second to occur. Usually, these events occur simply by coincidence and are in no way related to each other. In some cases, the false cause fallacy is compelling because it is usually difficult to determine whether or not the two events are causally related. Unless, however, a person is an expert in both events taking place, and even then, doubts may remain. Moreover, the error concerns many superstitious sayings that exist today. In fact, many of society's superstitions stem from the use of the false cause myth. For decades, people always hear about the person who broke the mirror and was hit by seven years of bad luck, or the bad luck that...... middle of paper...... not fallacious, and that's all that. is necessary for a reader or listener to understand the message. There are several types of mistakes that are made every day across the world. They exist in the television we watch, in the newspapers we read, and in the advertisements we see. By better understanding what a fallacy is and how to avoid using it in arguments, people will become stronger in their reasoning and be able to spot a fallacy when they see one. Additionally, people will save themselves from bad information and bad arguments by defending themselves with the ability to use good logic and reasoning. Works Cited Hurley, Patrick. A concise introduction to logic. Tenth edition. Belmont, CA: 2008. 113 136. Print."All About PETA." www.peta.org. NP, 2011. Web. February 20 2011..