Fehldeutung

Fehldeutung is a German term that designates a misinterpretation or erroneous interpretation of signs, data, events, or texts. Literally translating to "faulty interpretation," it is used across disciplines to describe interpretive errors that arise from cognitive biases, inadequate methods, or insufficient context. In German-language scholarly writing, Fehldeutung can refer to misread scientific results, misread historical sources, or overly symbolic readings in literature and religion.

The term derives from Fehl- (wrong) and Deutung (interpretation or meaning). It is commonly contrasted with korrekte Deutung (correct interpretation) and with hermeneutic analyses that aim to recover intended meaning.

Causes of Fehldeutung include limited information, confirmation bias, faulty inference of causality, misapplication of models, linguistic ambiguity, and cultural or contextual misfits. In psychology and cognitive science, related mechanisms include biases, pareidolia, and overgeneralization. In science and journalism, it can arise from cherry-picking data, misreading statistics, or drawing conclusions from correlations.

Examples include inferring a universal trend from a small sample, interpreting random variation as a purposeful action, or attributing a historical event to a single cause without considering alternatives. In dream interpretation or symbolic readings, Fehldeutung describes projecting contemporary meanings onto ambiguous signs.

Mitigation involves methodological rigor, replication, peer review, transparent data, and explicit acknowledgment of uncertainty. The term remains a neutral descriptor of interpretive error rather than a moral judgment, and is used to discuss the reliability of conclusions in both everyday reasoning and scholarly analysis.