Funny Post on Missing the Point

Tongue in cheek (Photo credit: pcgn7)

Just a quick shout out to Sarah Geis on her blog Think on These Things for her tongue-in-cheek post about how to really miss the point when engaging in an online discussion. I’ll quote a few of my favorites here:

1. Foster the conviction that all with whom you disagree are personally attacking you…

3. Embrace category confusion.
Here is a time-tested example: If the argument is about economics, you may wish to respond by claiming that the author is just racist. You get bonus points here, as this tactic also functions as an ad hominem and as a red herring fallacy (look them up if you are curious)…

9. Convince yourself that evaluation of or criticism of something is reducible to hatred.
Assume that if the arguer has negative things to say about a person or thing, then the arguer is actually displaying a deep-seated, concentrated hatred of that person or thing…

Check out Sarah’s post if you need a good laugh.

Also to give credit where credit is due, I heard of Sarah’s post on John Stonestreet’s daily one minute podcast “The Point”. You might want to check his work out, too.

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