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Argument from inertia or appeal to inertia (sometimes called "Stay the Course") is a logical fallacy derived from the proposition that a mistaken status quo be maintained for its own sake, usually because making a change would require admission of fault in the mistake or because correcting the mistake would require extraordinary effort and resources.
Its name derives from inertia, a concept in physics representing the resistance of any physical object to any change in its velocity.
Similar fallacies
- Where argument from inertia might seek to avoid expending resources and effort on making the necessary change, the sunk-cost fallacy resists change due to that which has already been expended in the past to contribute to the present condition.
- Where existing customs are presented, an argument from inertia can be an appeal to tradition.
- The argument from inertia counterpoints with the appeal to novelty (argumentum ad novitatem), where the alternative is sought simply on the basis that it is new.
References
- Williamson, Owen M. (January 2018). "Master List of Logical Fallacies". The University of Texas at El Paso. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
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