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Continuum Fallacy




The fallacy is often described in form of a conversation:

:Q: Does one Grain of wheat form a Heap ?
:A: No.
:Q: If we add one, do two grains of wheat form a heap?
:A: No.
:Q: If we add one, do three grains of wheat form a heap?
:A: No.
:...
:Q: If we add one, do one hundred grains of wheat form a heap?
:A: No.
:Q: Therefore, no matter how many grains of wheat we add, we will never have a heap. Therefore, heaps don't exist!

Other examples of this fallacy prove that no one has a Beard , no matter how long it is (or that everyone has a beard, no matter how cleanly Shave n), because a beard can have varying lengths, that no one can be Bald (or that everyone is bald) because there are people with varying quantities of Hair , or that Language s don't exist because they are in a Dialect Continuum .


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