How To Argue With Me Better
A Short Guide To Common Logical Fallacies
I get a lot of comments on this blog. Some are excellent. Some are… enthusiastic.
This post is for the enthusiastic ones. Most of the … enthusiasm … involves logical fallacies to try and win the argument. I don’t mind swatting down logical fallacies, but it would be more fun to engage with solid logic and reasoning, don’t you think?
Below is a chart of the logical fallacies I see most often in online debate — especially in comment sections under political, historical, or cultural pieces.
A few quick notes:
Straw Man and Ad Hominem are the undisputed champions.
Whataboutism is the eternal champion of deflection.
No True Scotsman has a permanent residency in ideological debates.
Godwin’s Law has become so normalized in modern political discourse that comparing opponents or policies to Hitler/Nazis/Fascism is often the *opening* move rather than the last resort. What used to signal that an argument had jumped the shark is now practically the default setting for a large segment of online debate.
False Equivalence is particularly popular in certain libertarian circles.
You don’t have to argue with me. But if you do decide to throw down in the comments, at least bring your A-game. I promise to try to do the same. And by A-game, I mean making a rational argument, supporting it, and avoiding logic traps and fallacies. :-)
What’s your favorite (or least favorite) fallacy you see online? Drop it in the comments.
Latest favorite Ad Hominem:
Friend says she hopes JD Vance finds out what happened to Omar's 30 million.
Brother says,JD Vance is a walking piece of shit.
The most common one I run into is the NAWALT argument (not all women are like that). It is usually, though not exclusively, employed by female debaters. It consists of refuting a statistical argument or generalization by producing a single contrary instance, and triumphantly assuming victory. One contrary does not disprove a generalization. “Most East Indians have brown eyes”. “False! I once met a man born in Bombay who had blue eyes!”