you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]artetolife 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

To me all he says is that gender is arbitrary and doesn't need to exist. If it's all about self-perception and not about the body then what's it all for?

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

Good question.I will admit that I hate these arguments because they're so wordy and it makes my head hurt. It feels like they try to throw so many words to the wall and hope if confuses the person they're arguing with

[–]lefterfield 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

And btw, one possible counter this tactic is to skim their arguments and pick out only the parts that you want to respond to. If they demand to know why you didn't answer everything else, just say it wasn't relevant. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to read all the nonsense they shove at you.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Thanks for the tip! I'm still new to actually debating these things and I found myself getting overwhelmed whenever they throw me these long walls of word salad that I know really don't say much of anything but I still can't help but feel like I'm drowning lol.

[–]lefterfield 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Completely understandable. I did too the first time I saw it. With practice you see a lot of these phrases repeated by multiple people, and learn to filter it out. If they really wanted an answer, they'd be using their own brain and their own words to make an argument.

[–]lefterfield 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

This is exactly what they're doing. It's an actual debate tactic used primarily by people who don't understand their own arguments(and hope you don't either). There's no way for most people to respond to every accusation and claim, so they throw as many out there as possible.

[–]MarkTwainiac 13 insightful - 2 fun13 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

This debate tactic is called Gish Gallop.

[–]lefterfield 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes! That's the phrase.

[–]Kai_Decadence[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ah I see. I had a hunch that was their little game they're playing.

[–]MarkTwainiac 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I will admit that I hate these arguments because they're so wordy and it makes my head hurt. It feels like they try to throw so many words to the wall and hope if confuses the person they're arguing with

There's actually a name for this deliberate argument style/tactic that you've described to a T: Gish Gallop.