Hasty generalisation
Draws a broad conclusion from too few examples.
Specimen
I spoke to three nurses last week. Clearly the entire healthcare system is broken.
Fabricated passage — teaching example designed for clarity.
Logical fallacy / hasty generalisation
hasty generalisation — three anecdotes generalised to an entire system
Dissection
I spoke to three nurses last week. Clearly the entire healthcare system is broken.
- sample of three
- generalised to a whole system
- 'clearly' signals false certainty
Field notes
- Family
- Logical fallacy
- Habitat
- opinion writing, social affairs coverage, personal essays
- Frequency
- found in 9% of analyzed articles
- Confused with
- Anecdotal evidence , Cherry-picking
In the wild
"Every teacher I've spoken to is exhausted. The profession is in freefall."
Opinion section, national daily, January 2026
"Two businesses on my street closed this year. This economy is destroying small traders."
Letters page, regional paper, March 2026
Why it works
Vivid individual cases feel more real than aggregate data. The brain moves quickly from example to general rule.
Counter-move
Ask: how large was the sample? Could it represent the whole?
See it flagged in real articles while you read.
Get the extension