False premise

A false premise is a mistaken starting assumption. You can build a long chain of reasoning where every step is logically correct, yet the argument is still unsound—because it inherits that original mistake.

Example (false premise): “For any two people, the one who talks more during a conversation is more knowledgeable about the topic.”
Follow it logically and you get: the most talkative person is the expert → measure airtime to find experts → you don’t need to check facts → a stopwatch could replace interviews. The logic is consistent, but the result is ridiculous because the premise confuses confidence with competence.

In everyday life, we stack reasonable-sounding inferences on top of hidden assumptions. It helps to slow down and ask: What premise am I taking for granted here—and is it actually true?

If you want a playful way to practice questioning your own premises and staying anchored to your values, there’s a Telegram bot game called MindWarrior:
https://t.me/MindWarriorGame_Bot

Topic: #CognitiveBiases
Source: mindwarriorgame.org