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In reply to the discussion: Boycott Dark Knight? [View all]longship
(40,416 posts)No intent here for any pun. It is what this logical fallacy is known as. In the Texas Sharpshooter fallacy, a cowboy aims his gun at the side of a barn, and then walks over to the barn and draws a bullseye around the bullet hole.
This is a type of a more general fallacy called the Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy (after this, therefore because of this).
All told, the claim of the OP is refuted without a connecting statistic, because otherwise there would be any number of data points that connect Holmes to this horrible event.
Most importantly is the plausibility that a crazy guy wanted to make a big splash, so he chose a premier of a largely promoted film, the attendance of which would be large. Given that fact, William of Okham's razor gives OP idea a big shave. If Aurora had hosted the Superbowl last night and Holmes shot up the stadium, would the original poster claim that football was to blame?
Silly! Fucking silly, fallacious logic.