Slippery Slope

The slippery slope fallacy suggests that a relatively small first step will inevitably lead to a chain of related events culminating in some significant impact, often negative. This argument is often used to instill fear about the consequences of a particular action without providing evidence for the causal link.

For example, arguing that allowing students to redo tests will lead to a complete breakdown of academic standards is a slippery slope argument. It assumes without justification that one action will lead to extreme outcomes, which may not be the case.