Fallacies
 Preparing the Ground 
  • Loaded Language
  • Straw Man
  • Burden of Proof

    •  On the Defensive 
  • Baffling with Science
  • Poisoning the Well

    •  Persuasive Techniques 
  • Appeal to Popularity
  • Black or White
  • Flattery

    •  Desperate Moves 
  • Guilt by Association
  • Passive Agressive
  • Red Herring
    		•       

    Straw Man

    The odds are that your opponent is quite a reasonable person, advancing a quite a reasonable view. Most people are pretty reasonable most of the time. This makes your job of proving them wrong harder.

    For this reason, it's often a good idea to start off by deploying a "straw man", a caricature of their view that's easier to refute than what they really believe. Why attack your opponent's true position when you can attack a pale imitation?

    The easiest way to construct a straw man is to exaggerate.

    Suppose, for example, that your opponent is a parent or spouse telling you that you should do the washing up. What request could be more reasonable than that? You'll never disprove that.

    So change their argument. Twist their words so that they suggest that you should always do the washing up, that doing the washing up is your job. Now that's hardly fair is it!? Having started off looking reasonable, your opponent is now saddled with an indefensible position.

    The straw man argument is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. Whenever you get the chance to change your opponent's position to make it harder to defend, take it!