Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I'll see your strawman and raise you an ad hominem.
Red herring! Red herring!
Hey, I just got an Appeal to Novelty from that guy.
Does anyone think that using the "proper" names for common logical fallacies ever really contributed anything to an online discussion/argument (unless the discussion was actually about common logical fallacies, of course)?
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I don't know. I think they contribute something if the person knows about the more typical logical fallacies, but usually the person using them doesn't, so it's not instructive. I've been called out a couple times, accurately, and I appreciated it after the blush subsided.
But sometimes identifying them can be a game in itself. It's like a hidden object picture (who can spot the red herring in this famous photo?). You know, that might be a fun thread. Someone could pull a few paragraphs from other forums (not from MobileRead though, to spare myself and others the embarrassment of being spotlighted), and then posters could try and spot the logical fallacy in use.