Using evidence that is either intentionally or unintentionally inaccurate will result in a fallacy. The most common example of inaccurate evidence resulting in a fallacy is one called the straw man. A straw man fallacy occurs when a speaker chooses a deliberately poor or oversimplified example in order to ridicule and refute an opponent’s viewpoint. For example, consider the following scenario. Politician X proposes that we put astronauts on Mars in the next four years. Politician Y ridicules this proposal by saying that his opponent is looking for “little green men in outer space.” Politician Y is committing a straw man fallacy by inaccurately representing Politician X’s proposal, which is about space exploration and scientific experimentation, not “little green men.”

Another fallacy that results from using inaccurate evidence is the either/or fallacy, also called a false dilemma. In this fallacy, the speaker presents two extreme options as the only possible choices. For instance:

Either we agree to higher taxes, or our grandchildren will be mired in debt.

This statement offers only two ways to view the issue, and both are extreme and inaccurate.