One of the FallaciousArgument''''''s.  Goes like this.

	* Assume that there is a metric for assessing the quality of something (overall, or in a given context), and a straightforward metric for determining this quality rating for any given something.  (Often times this assumption does not hold; but that doesn't stop anyone from practicing this fallacy)

	* The speaker has a something which has a quality score of ''x'' (higher is better).

	* Another party (a competitor, opponent, another researcher, whoever) has a solution which has a quality of ''y'', where ''y''<''x''

	* Speaker then asserts that the minimum score for "acceptability" is ''x''; anything scoring lower than ''x'' is unsatisfactory.


'''Therefore,'''

IfItsWorseThanMineItsGarbage.

This is a fallacy for several reasons.

	* Converting a multi-valued figure of merit (or a continuous or even qualitative one) to a binary figure of merit (pass/fail, good/bad, etc.) is not a trivial undertaking if it is to be done properly.  Such a determination must consider many factors--the intended use, the intended user, what is reasonable to expect given available technology.  Nor can it be made in a vacuum--the presence of competing solutions is well-known to RaiseTheBar.  The pass/fail criteria proposed by the speaker is often arbitrary--and in many case is selected for the purpose of being able to declare a competing solution garbage. Failure to do so is risking a FalseDichotomy.

	* As mentioned above, even the multi-valued figure of merit may be dubious.  Is SmalltalkLanguage better for writing business applications than FortranLanguage?  Damn straight.  Is it better than Fortran for high-performance number-crunching?  Not on your life.  Likewise for many other technologies.  Many peddlers/advocates of a technology make the assumption that the application in which their solution shines is the only application worth considering.  And this is assuming that it's possible to even determine a figure of merit--even a qualitative one--which can be observed and agreed upon.

A related fallacy is IfItsBetterThanMineItsOverDesigned--where it is asserted that any ''improvement'' over the speaker's preferred solution is superfluous.  Much of the above applies to that as well.