Something struck me today.
Strawmanning — Attacking a superficially similar argument so as to pull attention away from the real argument.
“We should restrict gun access.”
“Oh, you want the government to imprison us and take away all of our freedom and rights?”
“We shouldn’t wear masks in most situations.”
“Oh, you hate people? You don’t care if you kill others?”
The strawman has two problems, one formal and one human:
- The formal problem is that the refutation does not address the original argument.
- The human problem is that you either don’t understand your opponent’s position or can’t see any value or reasoning behind that position. Your argument is the very definition of “jumping to a conclusion.”
The strawman is a popular and effective public argument strategy because it fits into 280 characters. Moreover, the people that agree with you instantly jump to the same conclusion — “Yes! You’re right and they’re wrong!” It’s a toggle-switch answer.
The cure for the disconnected, disjointed, and divided culture we find ourselves in is empathy. The path to empathy starts with recognizing that your opponent is a person with a history. They are smart, feeling, and caring individuals just like you.
They just happen to have come to a different conclusion than you have.
To have a unified and healthy culture, we don’t all need to believe the same things, but we all have to value each other.
