Misleading Vividness is a fallacy in which a very small number
of particularly dramatic events are taken to outweigh a
significant amount of statistical evidence. This sort of
"reasoning" has the following form: Dramatic or vivid event X
occurs (and is not in accord with the majority of the
statistical evidence) . Therefore events of type X are likely to
occur. This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because the mere
fact that an event is particularly vivid or dramatic does not
make the event more likely to occur, especially in the face of
significant statistical evidence. People often accept this sort
of "reasoning" because particularly vivid or dramatic cases tend
to make a very strong impression on the human mind. For example,
if a person survives a particularly awful plane crash, he might
be inclined to believe that air travel is more dangerous than
other forms of travel. After all, explosions and people dying
around him will have a more significant impact on his mind than
will the rather dull statistics t