Fallacy of the single cause

The fallacy of the single cause, also known as joint effect or causal oversimplification, is a logical fallacy

Fallacy

In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning in argumentation. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor , or take advantage of social relationships between people...

 of causation

Questionable cause

Fallacies of questionable cause, also known as causal fallacies, non causa pro causa or false cause, are informal fallacies where a cause is incorrectly identified...

 that occurs when it is assumed that there is a single, simple cause of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by a number of only jointly sufficient causes.

Often after a tragedy it is asked, "What was the cause of this?" Such language implies that there is one cause, when instead there were probably a large number of contributing factors.

The fallacy of the single cause, also known as joint effect or causal oversimplification, is a logical fallacy

Fallacy

In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning in argumentation. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor , or take advantage of social relationships between people...

 of causation

Questionable cause

Fallacies of questionable cause, also known as causal fallacies, non causa pro causa or false cause, are informal fallacies where a cause is incorrectly identified...

 that occurs when it is assumed that there is a single, simple cause of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by a number of only jointly sufficient causes.

Often after a tragedy it is asked, "What was the cause of this?" Such language implies that there is one cause, when instead there were probably a large number of contributing factors. However, having produced a list of several contributing factors, it may be worthwhile to look for the strongest of the factors, or a single cause underlying several of them. A need for simplification may be perceived in order to make the explanation of the tragedy operational, so that responsible authorities can be seen to have taken action.

For instance, after a school shooting

School massacre

-Definition:The term school shooting most commonly describes acts committed by either a student or intruders from outside the school campus. They are to be distinguished from crowd-containment shootings by law-enforcement personnel, such as the shootings at Kent State and Jackson State in the...

, editorialists debate whether it was caused by the shooter's parents, TV violence, stress on students, Hollywood or the accessibility of guns. In fact, many different causes — including some of those — may all have necessarily contributed. In addition, the music industry might claim that filesharing is the cause of a loss in profit whereas factors such as a growing videogame market and economic depression are also major factors in this.

Causal oversimplification is a specific kind of false dilemma

False dilemma

The logical fallacy of false dilemma involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are other options. Closely related are failing to consider a range of options and the tendency to think in extremes, called black-and-white thinking...

 where conjoint possibilities are ignored. In other words, the possible causes are assumed to be "A or B or C" when "A and B and C" or "A and B and not C" (etc.) are not taken into consideration.

The fallacy is alluded to (and refuted) in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven

Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)

Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast. The film was a success at the box office and with critics. Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean's Twelve in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen in...

:

Tess: You know what your problem is?

Danny: I only have one?