The Nirvana fallacy: when perfectionism leads to unrealistic solutions
“Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien” wrote Voltaire in 1772. The Nirvana fallacy consists in comparing existing solutions with ideal, perfect ones—which are often unrealistic. The Nirvana fallacy can lead to dangerous thinking and harmful decisions. Solutions that improve safety but do not completely eliminate a risk are often the victim of the Nirvana fallacy. For instance:
Fallacy: “Wearing a mask is useless because it will not fully protect me or others from coronavirus.” While masks do not provide full protection, some protection is better than none. The fallacy is to not wear a mask before it doesn’t fully prevent the risk of transmission.
Fallacy: “Seat belts are a dumb idea, people who wear a seat belt still die in car crashes.” The goal of seat belts is to reduce a person’s risk of dying in a car crash, not to completely prevent that risk. The fallacy is to not wear a seat belt because it doesn’t provide full protection in the case of a car crash.