The point is to persuade yourself. Or rather, to satisfy the collection of niggling doubts[1] we call the "inner critic". That voice constantly questioning us i

The point is to persuade yourself. Or rather, to satisfy the collection of niggling doubts[1] we call the "inner critic". That voice constantly questioning us in our own heads, poking holes in our logic, and ensuring we're actually thinking and not pretending to think. The problem with fallacies, as I see it, is they're often employed to fool that inner critic. They can dress up any emotional, thoughtless reaction in the guise of reason. "I thought that person was rude" becomes "I believe this person is engaging in an ad-hominen attack." Or "they have a belief I don't like" becomes "Clearly, the other person has a case of confirmation bias." I think our inner critic will detect us taking such mental shortcuts; it won't be quieted so easily. I also think that's why fallacy-first thinkers will spam their views across threads. Unable to persuade themselves, let alone others, they resort to rhetoric to silence their own creeping doubts. [1] http://www.peirce.org/writings/p107.html http://www.peirce.org/writings/p107.html