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This box jellyfish is all-natural and therefore touching its tentacles is good for you and will send you into a state of reconnection with the earth-spirit through horrible pain and then death in a few minutes.

An appeal to nature is a logical fallacy that occurs when something is assumed to be good because it is "natural" or bad because it is "unnatural".

The fallacy is a naturalistic fallacy and thus an informal fallacy. The fallacy can be described in one of three ways:

  1. P1: A is natural.
    P2: B is not natural.
    C: A is better than B.
  2. P1: Natural is good.
    P2: A is natural.
    C: A is good.
  3. P1: Synthetic/unnatural is bad.
    P2: B is synthetic/unnatural.
    C: B is bad.

Appeal to nature is a fallacious argument because the mere "naturalness" of something is unrelated to its positive or negative qualities – natural things can be bad or harmful (such as infant death and the jellyfish above), and unnatural things can be good (such as clothes, especially when you are in Siberia). Another problem is the distinction between what is "natural" and what is not, which can be murky: crude oil occurs naturally, but it's not something you'd like poured on seabirds or your garden. The word "natural" has no exact definition and can be used in multiple ways, thus allowing equivocation.

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SciencePeer reviewPlate tectonicsProofScientific methodScientismNASAWater fluoridationJames HansenFAQ on radioactivity and nuclear technologyGWEN towers
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LogicQuote miningThe Fine Art of Baloney DetectionPoint refuted a thousand timesLoaded languageCreationist escape hatchCredentialismAdding epicyclesPoe's LawBullshitHow do you know? Were you there?
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AtheismNew AtheismAtheophobiaAtheist Bus CampaignSecular humanismAgnosticismPascal's wagerHis Dark MaterialsRussell's TeapotSophisticated theologySecular religions
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CreationismBehe: The Edge of Evolution, InterviewGlobal flood101 evidences for a young age of the Earth and the universeEvidence against a recent creationBaraminologyIntelligent design and academic freedomAnswers Research JournalHow come there are still monkeys?EyeMcLean v. Arkansas Board of Education
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PseudoscienceBehe: The Edge of Evolution, InterviewNon-materialist neuroscienceVagina steamingClimate changeFlat EarthPseudoscienceList of pseudosciencesAnswers Research JournalBanana argumentObjectivism
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ConspiracyHolocaust denialFreeman on the landShakespeare authorshipPizzagateDesiree JenningsChemtrailsObama citizenship denialArmenian genocide denialHAARP2020 United States presidential election
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