These things are the worst.
The problem with attempts such as these is they are designed as guides to facilitate one party ignoring the other. "You used 'No True Scotsman,' therefore I don't have to pay any attention to you! Lalalalala!" Stupid thing is, you know that the argument being made is bad, and if you can put a name to it, you can take the short way and point out why the argument is bad, rather than saying "wikipedia says your argument is bad, fa lala upvote upboat!" as if you made a point.
You didn't make a point.
Arguments are about debate. Arguments are about rhetoric. Arguments are about persuasion. There is nothing as UNpersuasive as whipping out Wikipedia and saying "see? You used 'appeal to authority!' That means that according to Hoyle I can tell you to shut the fuck up and maintain my winning sophomoric glow of self-righteousness!"
If you actually want to win an argument (rather than just blow it up) you have to make your opponent understand the fallacy in their thinking... in such a way that they continue to debate with you. Standing up and screaming "Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it!" just illustrates that you're an over-mothered teenager with no friends.
I labor under the delusion that most disagreements are simply a matter of one side having incomplete information to make an informed, rational decision that is in their best long-term interest.
When we start talking about logical fallacies I fall back on the fundamental problem of induction and get stuck there.
I mostly avoid whipping out knowledge of logical fallacies during actual arguments in favor of just trying to explain why what's being said doesn't work in my mind, partially to avoid the temptation to treat the labels as trump cards and use them incorrectly in the process as I often see others do, and to avoid derailing discussions into debates about argumentative structure... but geez this is cute.
And valuable, because even if it's not my style to put a post-it note on a fallacy every time I think I spot one, it's still important to be able to spot them.
- I mostly avoid whipping out knowledge of logical fallacies during actual arguments in favor of just trying to explain why what's being said doesn't work in my mind, partially to avoid the temptation to treat the labels as trump cards and use them incorrectly in the process as I often see others do, and to avoid derailing discussions into debates about argumentative structure...
pretty funny.
I do pride myself on knowing my logical fallacies, though. It's kind of annoying when people use them against me, because I know that they have no real weight but they don't think so. Maybe I should print this book out and give it to people in need.
:) That's a good idea. Printing the book and give it to people. HAHAH!
It's not easy to understand logical fallacies, or noticing we're committing them, in the beginning. The mind is made of habits. And to change it to a different point of view is a difficult challenge for most people.