22 manipulations: how to avoid your opponent's attack. Part 2
12. Bandwagon
What’s this?
What’s this?
Appellation to popularity or the fact that many people do something as an attempted form of validation.
Example:
Example:
6 million people believe in the existence of leprechauns. As many as 6 million people can't be wrong!
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
Understand if there are arguments other than the number of people. If not, then point out the mistake.
13. Appeal to authority
What’s this?
What’s this?
The basis of the proof is the opinion of one authoritative person.
Example:
Example:
Not able to defend his position that evolution 'isn't true' Bob says that he knows a scientist who also questions evolution (and presumably isn't a primate).
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
Don't fall into a discussion about which authority is more authoritative. Turn the focus of the discussion back to its topic.
14. Composition/division
What’s this?
What’s this?
Shifting the properties and characteristics of the whole to its parts and vice versa.
Example:
Example:
- Atoms are invisible, and I am made up of atoms => I am invisible!
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
Keep in mind that the properties of the whole are not always inherent in the particular and vice versa. If you notice such a shift, return the discussion to the arguments.
15. No true Scotsman
What’s this?
What’s this?
Shifting the focus of the discussion from a whole entity to a part of it.
Example:
Example:
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
Agree in advance on what kind of entity you mean by introducing it into your speech, if it is not clear from the context.
16. Genetic
What’s this?
What’s this?
You judged something as either good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it came.
Example:
Example:
You have a favorite news resource that previously gave you 100 true news. But this does not mean that they will not give a fake for the 101st time.
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
Do not judge the truth of an argument based only on the reputation of the speaker.
17. Black-or-white
What’s this?
What’s this?
Presentation of two alternative states as the only possibilities, when in fact more possibilities exist.
Example:
Example:
The company is coming up with a cure for coronavirus. The creators say that it is 100% safe, and their opponents claim that it causes amnesia. However, in fact, any of the possible options between the two polar ones can occur.
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
If you claim that there is a dichotomy, you must be 100% sure that you have considered all possible options.
If your opponent uses this technique, show that there are many more scenarios besides those indicated by the opponent.
If your opponent uses this technique, show that there are many more scenarios besides those indicated by the opponent.
18.Begging the question
What’s this?
What’s this?
An argument in which cause and effect are reversed.
Example:
Example:
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
If cause and effect are easily reversed, then there is a gap in the argument. Point out that cause and effect cannot be dependent on each other.
Read in this article how to make a strong argumentation structure.
Read in this article how to make a strong argumentation structure.
19. Appeal to nature
What’s this?
What’s this?
If something is 'natural' it is therefore valid, justified, inevitable, good or ideal.
Example:
Example:
- Same-sex marriages are unnatural in nature, so they should be banned.
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
To point out that a person should not always and in everything blindly listen to nature.
“Humanity is trying to overcome or adjust to the laws of nature. For example, flying is also unnatural, but we fly.”
“Humanity is trying to overcome or adjust to the laws of nature. For example, flying is also unnatural, but we fly.”
20. Anecdotal
What’s this?
What’s this?
The usage of personal experience or an isolated example instead of a sound argument or compelling evidence.
Example:
Example:
- Studies confirm that 96% of people do just like that.
- But my friend does everything differently.
- But my friend does everything differently.
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
Life cases may illustrate some argument, but they themselves do not prove anything, but only help. It's a bad idea to refute statistics with particular examples.
21. The Texas sharpshooter
What’s this?
What’s this?
Setting a goal after completing the task.
Example:
Example:
Example: An archer who first shoots at an arbitrary place, and then finds his arrow and draws a target around it.
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
The goal must be formulated before the action begins. You need to correlate the result with the goal, and not adjust the goal to what happened.
22. Middle ground
What’s this?
What’s this?
If there are two opposing points of view, then the truth will necessarily be somewhere in the middle.
Example:
Example:
Opponents claim that the coronavirus vaccine causes amnesia, and its creators say that it does not cause. If the truth is somewhere in between, then the vaccine sometimes causes amnesia.
How to avoid manipulation?
How to avoid manipulation?
The truth can be on any part of the spectrum: at the extreme points, and approximately in the middle, and anywhere else.
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