Cherry picking is a logical fallacy in which someone points out evidence that supports their claim while ignoring the evidence against their claim. The name of this fallacy is an allusion to the act of picking cherries off a tree, in which you only take the good fruits while leaving the bad ones behind.
Cherry picking can either be intentional or unintentional. A case where it might be intentional is when someone commits an act known as “quote mining”, in which they pull out selected quotes from a text and present those quotes out of context, giving the impression that those quotes support their argument when in fact the text as a whole either does not support or even refutes their argument.
The movie Iron Man 2 has an excellent example of cherry picking in action:
Near the beginning of the movie, there is a scene in which Tony Stark is testifying before Congress on the safety of his Iron Man weapons. As a witness, the Congressman calls Lt. Col. James Rhodes, who has prepared a report on the risks and benefits of the Iron Man weapon. Even though his report was…
