Apex fallacy

An apex fallacy (also semantic apex fallacy) occurs when someone evaluates a group based on the performance of best group members, not a representative sample of the group members (e.g., evaluating how well women are doing by looking only at national leaders). Conversely, the nadir fallacy occurs when someone evaluates a group using the worst group members.
The fallacy is a conditional fallacy. When not fallacious, the "apex" can be representative of a group, though then it wouldn't really be much of an "apex"; alternately, through regression analysis, the apex-ness of the sample can (theoretically) be magicked away statistically controlled for. When fallacious, the fallacy is one of overgeneralization and fallacious composition; if the sample was explicitly chosen because of its anomalous status, it’s cherry picking.
The "apex fallacy" is highly prevalent in the manosphere, where it is used as a critique of feminism.
The fallacy is a selective attention fallacy.
==Form==
This fallacy hinges on P2. If Y is representative, then there is no fallacy; if not, then the conclusion does not follow.
In apex fallacies, Y will be the unrepresentative cream of the crop; in nadir fallacies, Y will be the unrepresentative flotsam.
==Examples==
This is an apex fallacy because not all Africans are good long distance runners.http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Apex+FallacyThe Kenyan success genetic controversy by Ross Tucker (13 April 2013) The Science of Sport.
This is a nadir fallacy because not all welfare recipients cheat the system. In fact, the vast majority of welfare recipients are more results of others cheating the system than those cheating the system.
And, the example most beloved of MRAs:
This is an apex fallacy because not all men are powerful.
==Manosphere use==
The manosphere argues that part of feminism falls for the apex fallacy. The use is exemplified by the "Stoner with a Boner" blog:https://stonerwithaboner.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/what-is-the-apex-fallacy/
This statement is true: The existence of powerful groups of men does not prove that the average man is more powerful than the average woman.
However, reducing feminism to this fallacy is a strawman against feminism. Feminists claim (among other things) that society is biased to make it easier for men to gain power. Feminists use statistics and point to actual systematic sexism (eg, the gender wage gap), rather than merely saying "hey look, the wealthiest/most-powerful people are men". Thus, they don't fall prey to the apex fallacy — because they aren't just looking at the apex, but rather the rest of the pyramid, too. Ultimately, this abuse of the apex fallacy denies the relative privilege of males over females.
This view appears to be widely held by MRAshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ranze/Apex_fallacyhttp://therationalmale.com/tag/apex-fallacy/http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1d5bni/wikipedia_article_for_apex_fallacy_deleted/https://emmatheemo.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/male-apex-fallacy/http://just-smith.tumblr.com/post/48846105599/apex-fallacyhttp://forums.avoiceformen.com/showthread.php?14333-Meme-Day-(II)-The-Apex-Fallacyhttp://evilweasel.net/?p=408https://web.archive.org/web/20121228034918/http://www.absurdexperience.org/?p=207http://jabbathewut.tumblr.com/post/118099704026/a-short-thing-on-apex-fallacyhttp://www.genderratic.net/?p=1281 and by one Dr. Helen Smith,http://www.magic-city-news.com/Bernard_Chapin_102/The_Apex_Fallacy_An_Interview_with_Dr_Helen_Smith10920.shtml friend of Paul Elam. In fact, the term "apex fallacy" is so popular among the manosphere that is almost singularly used by MRAs or their critics. (With a few exceptions.https://hbr.org/2013/03/whats-worse-glass-ceilings-or-glass-cellars/)
===Frontman Fallacy===
In the 1990s, New Zealand MRA Peter Zohrab created the Frontman Fallacy, defined as:http://www.dadsnow.org/essay/ZOHRAB1.HTMhttp://web.archive.org/web/20101113020317/http://nzmera.orconhosting.net.nz/14frntmn.html
Again, "frontman fallacy" appears to only be used on MRA websites. Zohrab himself has written that Marc Lepine, school shooter of 14 women, was "not only not sexist, as the media stated – he was actually fighting sexism" and was "protesting against various issues which are aspects of Feminist sexism". Perhaps as a result, MRAs rarely cite Zohrab as the intellectual forefather of one of their favorite talking points.
===Wikipedia===
The idea was laughed off Wikipedia, the encyclopedia where anything is "notable" if you try hard enough.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Apex_fallacy MRAs were butthurt that Wikipedia did not recognize the two (!) reputable sources they could find; immediately, they cried censorship.http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2013/04/29/how-bad-ideas-get-started-the-apex-fallacy-the-frontman-fallacy-and-the-murderer-marc-lepine/
===Urban Dictionary===
Of note, the most downvoted UD entry happens to be the least wrong one (although it strawmans MRAs):
==See also==
*Manosphere glossary
*Spotlight fallacy
*Fallacy fallacy
*Cherry picking
*Overgeneralization
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Imprecision fallacies
Category:Men's rights movement