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The web's most illogical arguments

kn609

kn609

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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.
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.
 
tim290280

tim290280

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I've posted this before. To say I'm a little jaded with people's arguments is an understatement. I've even had one argument with someone on this board who successfully used all of these items below in a single argument. Some of course are a fine line distinction, easy to say someone is "arguing from authority" when they just have a better knowledge of the topic.

CARL SAGAN'S BALONEY DETECTION KIT

Based on the book The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

The following are suggested as tools for testing arguments and detecting fallacious or fraudulent arguments:

Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the facts
Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.
Arguments from authority carry little weight (in science there are no "authorities").
Spin more than one hypothesis - don't simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy.
Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it's yours.
Quantify, wherever possible.
If there is a chain of argument every link in the chain must work.
"Occam's razor" - if there are two hypothesis that explain the data equally well choose the simpler.
Ask whether the hypothesis can, at least in principle, be falsified (shown to be false by some unambiguous test). In other words, it is testable? Can others duplicate the experiment and get the same result?
Additional issues are
Conduct control experiments - especially "double blind" experiments where the person taking measurements is not aware of the test and control subjects.
Check for confounding factors - separate the variables.

Common fallacies of logic and rhetoric:

Ad hominem - attacking the arguer and not the argument.

Argument from "authority".

Argument from adverse consequences (putting pressure on the decision maker by pointing out dire consequences of an "unfavourable" decision).

Appeal to ignorance (absence of evidence is not evidence of absence).

Special pleading (typically referring to god's will).

Begging the question (assuming an answer in the way the question is phrased).

Observational selection (counting the hits and forgetting the misses).

Statistics of small numbers (such as drawing conclusions from inadequate sample sizes).

Misunderstanding the nature of statistics (President Eisenhower expressing astonishment and alarm on discovering that fully half of all Americans have below average intelligence!)

Inconsistency (e.g. military expenditures based on worst case scenarios but scientific projections on environmental dangers thriftily ignored because they are not "proved").

Non sequitur - "it does not follow" - the logic falls down.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc - "it happened after so it was caused by" - confusion of cause and effect.

Meaningless question ("what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?).

Excluded middle - considering only the two extremes in a range of possibilities (making the "other side" look worse than it really is).

Short-term v. long-term - a subset of excluded middle ("why pursue fundamental science when we have so huge a budget deficit?").

Slippery slope - a subset of excluded middle - unwarranted extrapolation of the effects (give an inch and they will take a mile).

Confusion of correlation and causation.

Straw man - caricaturing (or stereotyping) a position to make it easier to attack..

Suppressed evidence or half-truths.

Weasel words - for example, use of euphemisms for war such as "police action" to get around limitations on Presidential powers. "An important art of politicians is to find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the public"
 
Tech

Tech

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Uhmm, I'm guessing this is a repost, but that's a link to posts made by Bulkboy.
Bulkboy makes the most illogical arguments on teh internets.

lol.
 
MrChewiebitums

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I've posted this before. To say I'm a little jaded with people's arguments is an understatement. I've even had one argument with someone on this board who successfully used all of these items below in a single argument.

\
is it me? :omgwtf:
 

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tim290280

tim290280

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The irony, mr armchair scientist.

Irony? Strange that would be describing you not me. I'm actually running several research trials at the moment, and am working on several research papers for submission to journals.

You post dancing videos and pretend to have an MSc. Comfy armchair you have there Jorn?
 
Ironslave

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Jorn, Tim's field of expertise isn't physiology based, yet it's pretty darn impressive for being just a "hobby". Now contribute or dance.
 
J

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Jorn, Tim's field of expertise isn't physiology based, yet it's pretty darn impressive for being just a "hobby".

I have no problem acknowledging that.

The issue I have with Tim is, that he once made a post that he had a discussion on MSN with me, showed me wrong, that I couldn't accept that so he tried to block me, but it didn't work and how to do it. At that time he thought I was banned from the forums. I came in that topic and told him to post the conversation so you/Ironslave tell everone if he proved me wrong. Needless to say, he didn't, but resorted to the 'everyone knows I prove you wrong on the forum all the time/everyone knows you're a jackass' strategy.

Everysince then I log in on mecca every now and then to see what stupid shit he comes up with. Because I can play his game to, only ALOT better. And I even give him a chance to defend himself, I don't slander him while I think he is banned.

Now do I expect a nobel prize for this behavior? No. I just hope that some people see that Tim isn't that nice either he just plays one of the good bro's if you get what I mean with that.
 
tim290280

tim290280

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I have no problem acknowledging that.

The issue I have with Tim is, that he once made a post that he had a discussion on MSN with me, showed me wrong, that I couldn't accept that so he tried to block me, but it didn't work and how to do it. At that time he thought I was banned from the forums. I came in that topic and told him to post the conversation so you/Ironslave tell everone if he proved me wrong. Needless to say, he didn't, but resorted to the 'everyone knows I prove you wrong on the forum all the time/everyone knows you're a jackass' strategy.

Everysince then I log in on mecca every now and then to see what stupid shit he comes up with. Because I can play his game to, only ALOT better. And I even give him a chance to defend himself, I don't slander him while I think he is banned.

Now do I expect a nobel prize for this behavior? No. I just hope that some people see that Tim isn't that nice either he just plays one of the good bro's if you get what I mean with that.

Strange I seem to remember that you asked a question of me, I answered it, you said I was wrong, I posted a link to a paper, you then had a hissy fit, I was too busy to be bothered with you and you kept bombarding me with interruptions.

I will say one thing for you Jorn, I was a bit childish at the time about the way I dealt with you. In hindsight I put that down to the stress I was under.

Now onto the nice guy thing: you haven't really every tried to help or enlighten anyone here, all you have done is your trademark "disagree with me = gay" posts or similar unsupported statements. You have disdain for helping anyone, you hate it when someone asks you to actually support your statements of "Wrong" by the dismissive nature of your replies "I don't have to prove myself as I have said he is wrong and I know he is".

Go on. Help people. Help me. Post some useful stuff that could actually stop people wasting their time and help them train longer, healthier and with better results. Stop being such a childish fucking brat.
 
El Freako

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Go on. Help people. Help me. Post some useful stuff that could actually stop people wasting their time and help them train longer, healthier and with better results. Stop being such a childish fucking brat.

This.
 
Pickle

Pickle

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dont listen to them jorn, just teach me how to count beats to mariah carey like only you can
 
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