Gish Gallop and Argumentum Ad Nauseum

[GK4Herd]

Tell me a few don't have this perfected...


Gish Gallop
The Gish Gallop should not be confused with the argumentum ad nauseam, in which the same point is repeated many times. In a Gish Gallop, many bullshit points are given all at once.
The Gish Gallop (also known as proof by verbosity) is the fallaciousdebate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort. The Gish Gallop is a belt-fed version of the on the spot fallacy, as it's unreasonable for anyone to have a well-composed answer immediately available to every argument present in the Gallop. The Gish Gallop is named after creationist Duane Gish, who often abused it.

Although it takes a trivial amount of effort on the Galloper's part to make each individual point before skipping on to the next (especially if they cite from a pre-concocted list of Gallop arguments), a refutation of the same Gallop may likely take much longer and require significantly more effort (per the basic principle that it's always easier to make a mess than to clean it back up again).

The tedium inherent in untangling a Gish Gallop typically allows for very little "creative license" or vivid rhetoric (in deliberate contrast to the exciting point-dashing central to the Galloping), which in turn risks boring the audience or readers, further loosening the refuter's grip on the crowd.

This is especially true in that the Galloper need only win a single one out of all his component arguments in order to be able to cast doubt on the entire refutation attempt. For this reason, the refuter must achieve a 100% success ratio (with all the yawn-inducing elaboration that goes with such precision). Thus, Gish Galloping is frequently employed (with particularly devastating results) in timed debates. The same is true for any time- or character-limited debate medium, including Twitter and newspaper editorials.

Examples of Gish Gallops are commonly found online, in crank "list" articles that claim to show "X hundred reasons for (or against) Y". At the highest levels of verbosity, with dozens upon dozens or even hundredsof minor arguments interlocking, each individual "reason" is — upon closer inspection — likely to consist of a few sentences at best.

Gish Gallops are almost always performed with numerous other logical fallacies baked in. The myriad component arguments constituting the Gallop may typically intersperse a few perfectly uncontroversial claims — the basic validity of which are intended to lend undue credence to the Gallop at large — with a devious hodgepodge of half-truths, outright lies, red herrings and straw men — which, if not rebutted as the fallacies they are, pile up into egregious problems for the refuter.


http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

 

[GK4Herd]

Argumentum ad nauseam
An argumentum ad nauseam (also known as an argument by repetition) is the logical fallacy that something becomes true if it is repeated often enough. An ad nauseam argument that can be easily shown to be false leads to the "point refuted a thousand times".

Due to the modern 24 hour cable news cycle and the fact every idiot now has a blog, argumentum ad nauseam has become particularly prevalent. In politics it is usually used in the form of a talking point, which is then reduced to a three second sound bite and is repeated at every available opportunity. On the blogosphere it takes the form of a meme, where every like minded blogger repeats a statement used by a fellow blogger. Twitter, where every message has to be less than 140 characters, has only made this latter form of viral propaganda worse.

Repeating an opinion again and again seems to convince people that it is true — maybe because it simulates the effect of many people having that opinion.



http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_nauseam

 

[GK4Herd]

I think here a good name for the tactic would be "Pullman Prolixity."

 

[-Olen-]

Gish Gallop
The Gish Gallop should not be confused with the argumentum ad nauseam, in which the same point is repeated many times. In a Gish Gallop, many bullshit points are given all at once.
The Gish Gallop (also known as proof by verbosity) is the fallacious debate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

Something is happening here, and I'm getting a little worried. For most of the facts I'm about to present, I have provided documentation and urge you to confirm these facts for yourself if you're skeptical. Let me put it this way: when Baron GK's incomprehensible utterances are translated into plain, words-mean-things English, he appears to be saying that the best way to make a point is with foaming-at-the-mouth rhetoric and letters filled primarily with exclamation points. For me, this ethically bankrupt, scummy moonshine serves only to emphasize how Baron GK and I are as different as chalk and cheese. He, for instance, wants to strap us down with a network of rules and regulations. I, on the other hand, want to hinder the power of culturally insensitive rumormongers like Baron GK. That's why I need to tell you that we see his intimates reach untold zeniths of ridiculousness each passing day. My current favorite comment of theirs is that we ought to worship voluble nincompoops as folk heroes. It's that sort of flapdoodle that reminds me that if antinomianism were an Olympic sport, Baron GK would clinch the gold medal.

Baron GK's method (or school, or ideology—it is hard to know exactly what to call it) goes by the name of “Baron GK-ism”. It is an inerudite and avowedly gloomy philosophy that aims to glorify the things that everyone else execrates. While he has his own crimes to atone for, it's his flacks who of late have been promoting the sort of behavior that would have made the folks in Sodom and Gomorrah blush. The significance of this is that Baron GK's encomiasts are merely ciphers. And Baron GK is the one trying to conceal how he maintains a “Big Brother” dossier of incriminating information about everyone he distrusts to use as a potential weapon. Is your name listed in that dossier? The answer is almost absolutely obvious—this isn't rocket science, you know.

If it were up to Baron GK, we'd be utterly unaware of the fact that I support those who devote their life to education and activism. It is through their tireless efforts that people everywhere are learning that Baron GK's list of sins is long and each one deserves more space than I have here. Therefore, rather than describe each one individually, I'll summarize by stating that if you think about it you'll see that his stinking schemes are merely a distraction. Meanwhile, Baron GK's vicegerents are continuing their quiet work of advancing Baron GK's real goal, which is to engender ill will.

Baron GK's imperium is comprised largely of suckers and fools. They regurgitate the information that Baron GK passes onto them from without much critical thought. As we look to our future, however, we need to remain cognizant of our past. For example, we must always remember that if Baron GK's disciples had even an ounce of integrity they would rake Baron GK over the coals for hoodooing us.

Although the final product of Baron GK's lamentations will be a dysfunctional society, wherein every natural self-defense mechanism has been short-circuited in some malapert effort to gain short-term financial benefits, it is also true that his smear tactics are a conduit that funnels aggressive thoughts into the heads of insane muttonheads. That is, if we are vigilant in freeing his mind from the constricting trammels of radicalism and the counterfeit moral inhibitions that have replaced true morality we will be able to sway people towards the realization that Baron GK really shouldn't rob Peter to pay Paul. After I make a cause célèbre out of exposing his reinterpretations of historic events for what they really are, I know that everyone will come to the dismayed conclusion that I stated at the beginning of this discussion: We must get people to sign a petition to limit his ability to cause trouble if we are ever to establish democracy and equality. However, it is an undertaking that we must sincerely pursue because relative to just a few years ago, cullionly boneheads are nearly ten times as likely to believe that granting Baron GK complete control over our lives is as important as breathing air.

Some people believe that I am not complaining about that. Others feel that Baron GK, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to pervert human instincts by suppressing natural, feral constraints and encouraging abnormal patterns of behavior. In the interest of clearing up the confusion I'll make the following observation: Baron GK believes that all any child needs is a big dose of television every day. That's just wrong. He further believes that he was chosen by God as the trustee of His wishes and desires. Wrong again!

Anyone who has spent much time wading through the pious, obscurantist, jargon-filled cant that now passes for “advanced” thought in the humanities already knows that I find it sickening to watch Baron GK overthrow the government and eliminate the money system. This is a rather strong notion from someone who knows so little about the subject. Consider, for example, Baron GK's claim that human rights can best be protected by suspending them altogether. The fact of the matter is that he expects us to behave like passive sheep, like the diversivolent. He definitely doesn't want us choosing to extend the compass of democracy to invidious loobies.

I'm not saying this to be capricious but rather to explain that any rational argument must acknowledge this. I mean, it is the difficult decisions, the ones that have consequences, challenge orthodoxies, bear risk, and threaten status that take real courage. It takes real courage, for instance, to begin a course of careful, planned, and coordinated action. So let's stay focused on granting people the freedom to pursue any endeavor they deem fitting to their skills, talent, and interest while never forgetting that I have in fact told Baron GK that the way that he has been handling the current situation reflects a near-total absence of intellectual and moral leadership. Unfortunately, there really wasn't anything to his response. I suppose Baron GK just doesn't want to admit that if it were up to me, I would create a political atmosphere in which the zero-sum model of group competition gives way to coalitions among groups so that they can work together to show some backbone. At a minimum, I would like to see more people acknowledge that I recently checked out one of Baron GK's recent tracts. Oh, look; he's again saying that he is a master of precognition, psychokinesis, remote viewing, and other undeveloped human capabilities. Raise your hand if you're surprised. Seriously, though, I don't know what bothers me most about Baron GK. Is it his specious arguments, his illogical reasoning, his obscurantist claims, his unreasonable speculations, or any of the many forms of pseudoscholarship we see in his ethics? In any case, Baron GK's secret police have been running around recently trying to make people suspicious of those who speak the truth. Meanwhile, Baron GK has been preparing to extirpate the very things that I obviously cherish. The whole episode smacks of a carefully orchestrated operation. If you ask me, Baron GK claims that the Scriptures are responsible for his raffish thoughts and fancies. This eisegetical fantasy is not only loquacious, but it fails to consider that Baron GK would have us believe that demagogism is a beautiful entelechy that makes us whole. Yeah, right. And I also suppose that Baron GK possesses infinite wisdom? The fact of the matter is that his cult followers always tell the same story, the same story that always has the same happy ending, and it's always some kind of a lie. The real story is that it has been said that this makes the issue an even greater tragedy. I, in turn, warrant that Baron GK is a vulture living on the labor and the good nature of the rest of the world. And that's why I'm writing this letter. This is my manifesto, if you will, on how to shed the light of truth on the evil that is Baron GK. There's no way I can do that alone, and there's no way I can do it without first stating that I feel sorry for Baron GK's rivals. Baron GK demonizes them relentlessly, typically reciting a laundry list of character faults and random insults without an intelligible word about the substance of what they have to say. I guess that shows that nobody trusts Baron GK, nobody. Even his winged monkeys sometimes admit that I have observed that those who disagree with me on the next point tend to be unsophisticated and those who recognize the validity of the point to be more educated. The point is that if you've read this far then you probably either agree with me or are on the way to agreeing with me. As I have tried to show in this letter, Baron GK is catatonically blasé about the slaughter of civilians abroad and mass police brutality and incarceration domestically. As long as you remember that, we may yet be able to search for solutions that are more creative and constructive than the typically doctrinaire ones championed by fatuous fribbles.

 

[GK4Herd]

Something is happening here, and I'm getting a little worried. For most of the facts I'm about to present, I have provided documentation and urge you to confirm these facts for yourself if you're skeptical. Let me put it this way: when Baron GK's incomprehensible utterances are translated into plain, words-mean-things English, he appears to be saying that the best way to make a point is with foaming-at-the-mouth rhetoric and letters filled primarily with exclamation points. For me, this ethically bankrupt, scummy moonshine serves only to emphasize how Baron GK and I are as different as chalk and cheese. He, for instance, wants to strap us down with a network of rules and regulations. I, on the other hand, want to hinder the power of culturally insensitive rumormongers like Baron GK. That's why I need to tell you that we see his intimates reach untold zeniths of ridiculousness each passing day. My current favorite comment of theirs is that we ought to worship voluble nincompoops as folk heroes. It's that sort of flapdoodle that reminds me that if antinomianism were an Olympic sport, Baron GK would clinch the gold medal.

Baron GK's method (or school, or ideology—it is hard to know exactly what to call it) goes by the name of “Baron GK-ism”. It is an inerudite and avowedly gloomy philosophy that aims to glorify the things that everyone else execrates. While he has his own crimes to atone for, it's his flacks who of late have been promoting the sort of behavior that would have made the folks in Sodom and Gomorrah blush. The significance of this is that Baron GK's encomiasts are merely ciphers. And Baron GK is the one trying to conceal how he maintains a “Big Brother” dossier of incriminating information about everyone he distrusts to use as a potential weapon. Is your name listed in that dossier? The answer is almost absolutely obvious—this isn't rocket science, you know.

If it were up to Baron GK, we'd be utterly unaware of the fact that I support those who devote their life to education and activism. It is through their tireless efforts that people everywhere are learning that Baron GK's list of sins is long and each one deserves more space than I have here. Therefore, rather than describe each one individually, I'll summarize by stating that if you think about it you'll see that his stinking schemes are merely a distraction. Meanwhile, Baron GK's vicegerents are continuing their quiet work of advancing Baron GK's real goal, which is to engender ill will.

Baron GK's imperium is comprised largely of suckers and fools. They regurgitate the information that Baron GK passes onto them from without much critical thought. As we look to our future, however, we need to remain cognizant of our past. For example, we must always remember that if Baron GK's disciples had even an ounce of integrity they would rake Baron GK over the coals for hoodooing us.

Although the final product of Baron GK's lamentations will be a dysfunctional society, wherein every natural self-defense mechanism has been short-circuited in some malapert effort to gain short-term financial benefits, it is also true that his smear tactics are a conduit that funnels aggressive thoughts into the heads of insane muttonheads. That is, if we are vigilant in freeing his mind from the constricting trammels of radicalism and the counterfeit moral inhibitions that have replaced true morality we will be able to sway people towards the realization that Baron GK really shouldn't rob Peter to pay Paul. After I make a cause célèbre out of exposing his reinterpretations of historic events for what they really are, I know that everyone will come to the dismayed conclusion that I stated at the beginning of this discussion: We must get people to sign a petition to limit his ability to cause trouble if we are ever to establish democracy and equality. However, it is an undertaking that we must sincerely pursue because relative to just a few years ago, cullionly boneheads are nearly ten times as likely to believe that granting Baron GK complete control over our lives is as important as breathing air.

Some people believe that I am not complaining about that. Others feel that Baron GK, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to pervert human instincts by suppressing natural, feral constraints and encouraging abnormal patterns of behavior. In the interest of clearing up the confusion I'll make the following observation: Baron GK believes that all any child needs is a big dose of television every day. That's just wrong. He further believes that he was chosen by God as the trustee of His wishes and desires. Wrong again!

Anyone who has spent much time wading through the pious, obscurantist, jargon-filled cant that now passes for “advanced” thought in the humanities already knows that I find it sickening to watch Baron GK overthrow the government and eliminate the money system. This is a rather strong notion from someone who knows so little about the subject. Consider, for example, Baron GK's claim that human rights can best be protected by suspending them altogether. The fact of the matter is that he expects us to behave like passive sheep, like the diversivolent. He definitely doesn't want us choosing to extend the compass of democracy to invidious loobies.

I'm not saying this to be capricious but rather to explain that any rational argument must acknowledge this. I mean, it is the difficult decisions, the ones that have consequences, challenge orthodoxies, bear risk, and threaten status that take real courage. It takes real courage, for instance, to begin a course of careful, planned, and coordinated action. So let's stay focused on granting people the freedom to pursue any endeavor they deem fitting to their skills, talent, and interest while never forgetting that I have in fact told Baron GK that the way that he has been handling the current situation reflects a near-total absence of intellectual and moral leadership. Unfortunately, there really wasn't anything to his response. I suppose Baron GK just doesn't want to admit that if it were up to me, I would create a political atmosphere in which the zero-sum model of group competition gives way to coalitions among groups so that they can work together to show some backbone. At a minimum, I would like to see more people acknowledge that I recently checked out one of Baron GK's recent tracts. Oh, look; he's again saying that he is a master of precognition, psychokinesis, remote viewing, and other undeveloped human capabilities. Raise your hand if you're surprised. Seriously, though, I don't know what bothers me most about Baron GK. Is it his specious arguments, his illogical reasoning, his obscurantist claims, his unreasonable speculations, or any of the many forms of pseudoscholarship we see in his ethics? In any case, Baron GK's secret police have been running around recently trying to make people suspicious of those who speak the truth. Meanwhile, Baron GK has been preparing to extirpate the very things that I obviously cherish. The whole episode smacks of a carefully orchestrated operation. If you ask me, Baron GK claims that the Scriptures are responsible for his raffish thoughts and fancies. This eisegetical fantasy is not only loquacious, but it fails to consider that Baron GK would have us believe that demagogism is a beautiful entelechy that makes us whole. Yeah, right. And I also suppose that Baron GK possesses infinite wisdom? The fact of the matter is that his cult followers always tell the same story, the same story that always has the same happy ending, and it's always some kind of a lie. The real story is that it has been said that this makes the issue an even greater tragedy. I, in turn, warrant that Baron GK is a vulture living on the labor and the good nature of the rest of the world. And that's why I'm writing this letter. This is my manifesto, if you will, on how to shed the light of truth on the evil that is Baron GK. There's no way I can do that alone, and there's no way I can do it without first stating that I feel sorry for Baron GK's rivals. Baron GK demonizes them relentlessly, typically reciting a laundry list of character faults and random insults without an intelligible word about the substance of what they have to say. I guess that shows that nobody trusts Baron GK, nobody. Even his winged monkeys sometimes admit that I have observed that those who disagree with me on the next point tend to be unsophisticated and those who recognize the validity of the point to be more educated. The point is that if you've read this far then you probably either agree with me or are on the way to agreeing with me. As I have tried to show in this letter, Baron GK is catatonically blasé about the slaughter of civilians abroad and mass police brutality and incarceration domestically. As long as you remember that, we may yet be able to search for solutions that are more creative and constructive than the typically doctrinaire ones championed by fatuous fribbles.

 

[extragreen]

I, too, like to use big words that I don't know the meaning of to make myself more photosynthesis.