• BodyBySisyphus [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Learn the Art of Debate: The Ad Hominem Fallacy:

    You are an unimaginative, impotent weasel, therefore you are wrong

    ❌️ Ad hominem attack, weasels are still capable of making valid claims, however unlikely

    You are wrong and also an unimaginative, impotent weasel

    ✅ Reasonable induction from available evidence, not an ad hominem

    • ProfessorOwl_PhD [any]
      ·
      1 year ago

      genuinely the hardest part of arguing with reddit-logo brainworms is explaining the difference between using an ad-hominem argument and just being extensively insulting. Not because it's particularly hard to define an ad hominem argument and create examples, just because the brainworms are so deep set.

      • da_gay_pussy_eatah [she/her]
        ·
        1 year ago

        "I'm not saying you're wrong BECAUSE you're stupid, I'm saying you're wrong AND you're stupid."

      • BodyBySisyphus [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        It's also a deliberate obfuscation because so much discourse on reddit-logo isn't about the intellectually honest search for the truth, it's about getting community support by reinforcing the majority consensus, within which saying "Hey you insulted me no fair" makes you sound peevish and weak while saying "that's an ad hominem therefore you are wrong" adds to the collective veneer of sophistication and helps head off any actual engagement with the content.