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You're too optimistic about defusing tricky BS. And I was deliberately avoiding making a claim about the article, only about the idea that the existence of a te
by andrewflnr 5y ago
You're too optimistic about defusing tricky BS. And I was deliberately avoiding making a claim about the article, only about the idea that the existence of a template to "dismiss" your argument implies anything about your argument. It does not.
- bawolff 5y agoI think there are 2 senses of the word argument here. After all, how good your argument is (i.e. how good a job you do at convincing people of your view) has no bearing on how good your argument is (i.e. how true it is). When i claim that failing to address a criticism that is so common it has a template form and thus should easily have been anticipated, makes for a bad argument, i mean in the first sense not the second. To be clear, by a template i mean a template response that people believe in good faith - like what was used in this discussion. I don't mean a template for making an ad hominem attack or something bad faith along those lines. But ultimately if there is some "tricky bullshit" that is commonly believed in good faith by the audience, then yes an argument that doesn't defuse it is a bad argument.