An Analysis of Ad Hominem Attacks

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A cool video on ad hominim attacks:

An internet troll's favorite way to argue? Ad hominem, of course! This is your guide to spotting bad arguments on the internet and how to fight them.
https://www.wired.com/video/2017/06/how-to-battle-trolling-ad-hominem-attacks-online/
 
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on Phys.org
fresh_42 said:
...
Before I forget, what I really wanted to say is, that the "How to battle" part in the video is a bit short, if not to say completely missing.

I would refer you to Carole King's rendition of: "Smackwater Jack".

You can't argue with [anyone] with [anything set] in their [mind].​

ie. You can't, IMHO.

Of course, people will be writing books about it for decades to come, as to how it is possible.

ps. And don't forget to floss.
 
I posted it mostly for the troll attack methodology. Sometimes it's good to see how it's done in order not to fall for the attack and instead so I guess you can say something like:

Well I guess we can agree that's you've lost the argument and are now just angry with my win.

Another way to respond is how the austin a mayor responded to an angry letter about the Alamo Draft Women's Only showing of Wonder Woman:

http://mashable.com/2017/06/01/wonder-woman-screening-austin-mayor/#zyfAvfPD7iqR
 
jedishrfu said:
A cool video on ad hominim attacks:https://www.wired.com/video/2017/06/how-to-battle-trolling-ad-hominem-attacks-online/

Sadly, it's not just internet trolls who use ad hominem, but our national political discourse has degenerated into lots of ad hominem.

As a philosophy minor, I cringe at all the fallacious reasoning out there in the world of politics and in everyday social life.
 
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jedishrfu said:
I posted it mostly for the troll attack methodology. Sometimes it's good to see how it's done in order not to fall for the attack and instead so I guess you can say something like:

Well I guess we can agree that's you've lost the argument and are now just angry with my win.

Another way to respond is how the austin a mayor responded to an angry letter about the Alamo Draft Women's Only showing of Wonder Woman:

http://mashable.com/2017/06/01/wonder-woman-screening-austin-mayor/#zyfAvfPD7iqR

I've debated politics with a troll before and whenever I called him out on his fallacious reasoning (we're talking textbook philosophy/logic fallacies) he would just ignore it (never acknowledge it) and quickly change the subject to another "problem."

I don't think there's a formal fallacy for this "changing of the subject" technique, but there should be! I've seen it in two specific individuals the past year when we talked politics! Both were masters at it!
 
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kyphysics said:
As a philosophy minor, I cringe at all the fallacious reasoning out there in the world of politics and in everyday social life.
Mathematics doesn't help either. Especially famous: propositional fallacies. I sometimes wonder whether they need to study this or whether it comes to them naturally.
kyphysics said:
I don't think there's a formal fallacy for this "changing of the subject" technique
See "red herring" in the section "informal fallacies". I begin to love this page.
 
The only solution is to hammer in logic at an early age and kids can argue with their parents. After a generation or two, we will all become Vulcan.

Ah one can but dream of the possibilities.
 
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