Definitions by Dumu The Void
Factuality Bias
The rigid and often disingenuous demand that arguments, especially in social or political realms, must be supported only by quantifiable, hard "facts," while excluding moral reasoning, ethical principles, visionary ideals, or appeals to justice as "subjective" and therefore irrelevant. This bias artificially narrows discourse to only what can be measured, silencing debates about values, rights, and the kind of world we ought to build.
Example: In a debate about poverty reduction, one side argues from a moral imperative for human dignity. The other retorts, "Show me the facts and economic models that prove dignity increases GDP, or your argument is just feelings." This Factuality Bias attempts to reduce a moral imperative to a spreadsheet calculation, dismissing ethics as irrational.
Factuality Bias by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026
Historical Normality Bias
The fallacy of judging past societies, actions, or norms by the standards of the present, or conversely, of justifying outdated, harmful practices by arguing "that was normal at the time." In its dismissive form, it's used to invalidate modern moral critiques of historical figures by claiming a lack of historical context. More perniciously, it's used to defend the persistence of antiquated injustices by appealing to their historical commonality.
Example: Defending a founding father's slaveholding by saying, "It was normal then, you can't judge him," commits the Historical Normality Bias. It uses historical descriptivism ("it was common") to avoid moral judgment, implying that collective moral failure excuses individual participation in atrocity.
Historical Normality Bias by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026
Flat Earth Analogy Fallacy
The cheap rhetorical tactic of comparing an opponent's complex, nuanced, or heterodox position—especially one that challenges a scientific or institutional consensus—to the belief that the Earth is flat. This fallacy is a thought-terminating cliché designed to bypass engagement by equating skepticism of a specific scientific model (e.g., string theory, certain climate projections) with a denial of basic, observable reality. It's guilt-by-association with the ultimate symbol of absurdity.
Example: "Questioning the completeness of the Standard Model of particle physics? That's like being a flat earther." This Flat Earth Analogy Fallacy absurdly conflates cutting-edge, theoretical physics with the denial of elementary geometry, aiming to shame and silence legitimate scientific debate.
Flat Earth Analogy Fallacy by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026
Bias of Controlled Bias
A meta-problem in experimental design where the researchers' attempts to eliminate one form of bias (e.g., selection bias) unintentionally introduce another, often by creating control groups or conditions that are artificially sterile, non-representative, or so constrained they don't reflect real-world complexity. The study becomes a perfectly controlled test of an irrelevant scenario.
Example: A psychology study on stress uses a "controlled" lab stressor (like a timed puzzle) to eliminate life-history variables. But this Bias of Controlled Bias means the results only apply to acute, performance-based stress in weird lab settings, not to the chronic, social, and economic stressors that define real-world mental health.
Bias of Controlled Bias by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026
Scientific Lobbies
Organized interest groups within the scientific community—whether aligned with specific industries (pharma, fossil fuels), ideological camps, or dominant academic paradigms—that use their influence, funding power, and control over prestigious journals and conferences to steer research priorities, suppress dissenting findings, and shape public perception to favor their interests. They turn the scientific process into a political battlefield.
Example: For decades, Scientific Lobbies funded by the sugar industry successfully directed nutrition research toward blaming fat for heart disease, published favorable studies in major journals, and marginalized scientists pointing to sugar's role, distorting public health guidelines for a generation.
Scientific Lobbies by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026
Evidence Double Standards
The hypocritical application of radically different levels of scrutiny and standards for accepting evidence based on whether the evidence supports or challenges one's preferred conclusion. Evidence for the favored view is accepted with minimal question, while evidence against it is subjected to impossible, moving-target demands for perfection.
Example: An activist accepts a single, methodologically shaky study showing benefits of their preferred policy as "proof," but demands five gold-standard, multi-decade, replicative studies before accepting any evidence of potential harms—a classic Evidence Double Standards maneuver.
Evidence Double Standards by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026
Metabias
A bias about bias itself. This occurs when an individual or institution recognizes and critiques certain forms of bias (e.g., ideological bias) in others, but uses that awareness to falsely proclaim their own position as "bias-free." It's the blind spot of believing your own methodology for detecting bias has rendered you immune to it. It leads to a dangerous, uncritical form of supposed objectivity.
Example: A media outlet runs frequent segments on "media bias," always pointing out the slant in competitors' reporting. This convinces its audience that it alone is unbiased, creating a powerful Metabias. Its own framing choices, story selection, and guest bookings—all shaped by a commercial and ideological stance—go unquestioned.
Metabias by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026