We have a simple example of false inference in the news right now: the false inference that “Venezuelan” + “has a tattoo” must mean “gang member.” It’s a foolish inference, •highly• likely to be incorrect — but that didn’t stop the fascists at ICE from plucking people off the street and disappearing them to a foreign hell-prison with little hope of return.
In the wrong hands, a dubious inference leads to confident, irreversible harm.