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I thought a strawman was a totally made up position then arguing against it. Which comes off a bit like someone having a fight with themselves. Thinking about i

I thought a strawman was a totally made up position then arguing against it. Which comes off a bit like someone having a fight with themselves. Thinking about it that is more likely on the internet forums like HN where it is easy to just comment without there really being a “conversation”

TulliusCicero 5y ago
It's misrepresenting your opponent's argument, generally by exaggerating it, so that it's easy to argue against. > Which comes off a bit like someone having a fight with themselves. Yes, that's basically it. Inventing a related position that your opponent didn't actually take to argue with. Like if my opponent wants a new tax for more school funding, I could be like, "well when does it end? Are we gonna buy every teacher a BMW by raising taxes 300%? I can't afford that!!" That's a strawman.