kn609
Mecca V.I.P.
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- Mar 8, 2008
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Found this from another forum and thought it was a good read and pretty educational.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/184426-2/the_webs_most_illogical_arguments.html
The Straw Man fallacy seems to be pretty common here.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/184426-2/the_webs_most_illogical_arguments.html
The Straw Man fallacy seems to be pretty common here.
Dan: Netbooks can be easier to use than full-size laptops when you're traveling, because they're lighter and fit better on an airplane tray table.
Jimbo: You're saying that netbooks are better than laptops, which is stupid because laptops have faster processors, bigger screens, and better keyboards. You're an idiot.
Want an opponent who's easy to beat up? Build yourself a straw man--he doesn't even have a brain. The straw man fallacy is irritating because it misrepresents and trivializes the opposing view. In the example above, Jimbo alters Dan's argument to make it patently false, and then attacks the weaker argument instead of addressing what Dan actually said. Jimbo is ignoring the fact that Dan was talking a specific circumstance in which his statement might be true. Jimbo is a jerk.