I have maintained many times, particularly in my book, noted below, that Netiquette has, as part of its core, Logic and logical thought. The article below does a nice job in summarizing this without shaving to provide significant detail. For a more in-depth explanation, please read my book.
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How To Respond To Fallacious Arguments On The Internet [Stuff to Watch]
Tim Brookes
On 17th
March, 2015 from makeuseof.com
Web Culture
By Tim Brookes on 17th
March, 2015 | Web Culture
| 2 Comments
You should
already know that arguing on the Internet is a fruitless endeavour that’s
likely to raise your
blood pressure, but sometimes you absolutely have to make your
point. We get that.
But how often
is your (naturally well-worded and kind-mannered) argument rebutted
with an attack on your character, or a seemingly nonsensical comparison?
Wouldn’t it be great if you could deflect these fallacious arguments
while enlightening your detractors as to why their challenge falls
short?
Well, with the
help of these eight videos addressing common fallacies online, you can!
Debate club
members and law students aside, there are a lot of problems with the way people argue
on the Internet. You’ve probably lost track of how many times you’ve
told someone to “never read the comments” without giving it a second
thought as to why. Is it because other peoples opinions are really that
bad?
Probably not.
Other people’s opinions aren’t worse than yours, but it’s often the
inability to listen to bad arguments that makes comment sections so painful to
read. Whenever someone does put forward a compelling point of view
that challenges the status quo, they’re so often shot down by one of these
dominant logical fallacies – and the point is lost.
The next time
this happens to you, you can just post a link to one of these videos
instead. Consider it a public service.
The Strawman Fallacy
Quite possibly
the most common point of contention you will find online, the strawman is an
attempt (be it intentional or otherwise) to simplify an argument, so that
it can be more easily defeated. This includes taking facts or figures out of
context and even completely bypassing the existing argument by oversimplifying
something entirely.
The Ad Hominem Fallacy
Ad hominem
attacks are also par for the course in Internet comment sections, just as they
are in the political world. Put simply, an ad hominem attack would
generally ignore the primary argument and attack the person making the argument
instead – thus suggesting that their point of views are wrong because of some
apparent character flaw.
The Black and White Fallacy
Also known as a
false dichotomy or false dilemma, the black and white fallacy rears its
ugly head when a limited range of options are presented as being the only
options. One example would be to suggest that wanting more of
one thing would mean that you would — by erroneous definition —
want less of something else. These two matters of argument are
frequently non-inclusive.
Moving The Goal Posts Fallacy
As the
football-inspired name might suggest, this fallacious route of argument
involves changing the “win condition” of an argument constantly so
that a particular viewpoint cannot be defeated. If you’re arguing against
someone doing this, you’re very much unlikely to “win” – they will attempt
to find some way of rendering your point impossible to prove. You should
just show them this video instead.
The Fallacy Fallacy
The fallacy
fallacy is a bit like the ad hominem fallacy, in that it relates to the
individual making the claim directly. It supposes that if this person
themselves has committed a fallacy in drawing their conclusions, that their
conclusions must therefore be incorrect. This isn’t true – even though
someone’s argument may be constructed using fallacious means, the
conclusions could still be correct.
The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy
The Texas
sharpshooter fallacy reverses the roles of cause and effect, where an
argument is constructed and subsequently confirmed using the same
information. The name is derived from a story about a Texan shooting at
the side of a barn, who then gets up and paints his targets on the
wall to give the illusion that he has great aim.
The Authority Fallacy
The authority
fallacy places supposition on the fact that because someone in a
supposed position of power said it, it must be true.
This doesn’t necessarily relate to those in positions of established
authority, but those frequently perceived to have authority — like friends,
family or respected figures who lack the expert field knowledge to back up
their claims.
The “No True Scotsman” Fallacy
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In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” will be published soon follow by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:
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