What is Slippery slope?
The '''slippery slope argument''' is an argument that a small step ''will'' or ''must'' lead to a certain [[chain of events]]. The [[hypothetical]] chain of events leads to a significant (usually negative) result. So unintended consequences follow the first step in the chain of events.<ref>Haigh, Matthew; Wood, Jeffrey S.; Stewart, Andrew J. 2016. Slippery slope arguments imply opposition to change. ''Memory & Cognition'' '''44''' (5): 819–836. ISSN 0090-502X. PMID 2688675 [https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13421-016-0596-9]</ref> An example of this is the domino effect theory. During the [[Vietnam War]], many people in the [[United States]] believed that if [[Vietnam]] were to unite and become [[Communism|communist]], then the rest of [[Southeast Asia]] would eventually become communist too, unless the United States got involved in actively stopping communism. A slippery slope argument can also be a slippery slope fallacy. Fallacies are statements that sound reasonable but are actually [[logic]]ally flawed or sometimes even dishonest. Whether or not a slippery slope argument is a fallacy depends on whether it becomes true ''necessarily'' or just in practice. In many cases it just acts as a warning, and readers have to use [[common sense]] as to its [[truth value]]. So, strictly speaking, these are fallacies only in the sense that they pretend certain consequences '''will''' follow, when in reality the consequences merely '''may''' follow. A more specific example is the argument that: # If I do not not pass the exam, then I will not pass the class. # If I do not pass the class, then I will not graduate college. # If I do not graduate college, then I will not get a good job. # If I do not get a good job, then I will live on the streets. # If I live on the streets, then I will die young. If any of the steps is unsound, then the whole argument is unsound. Step number 3 ''may or may not'' be true, but since the argument says step number 3 ''will'' happen, the whole argument is not sound. == References