I mostly meant the later, but the former is not exactly uncommon (Satanic Ritual Abuse in 90s America, the current “Gays are raping their adopted children” thing in Russia, the exaggeration of German war crimes in the ‘Rape of Belgium’ in WWI, etc.).
The reason I call it Dark Arts is because it’s an argument where it’s validity is virtually irrelevant to its effectiveness, and in fact encourages exaggeration omission and equivocation even if no outright lies are told. It’s a rhetorical weapon; anyone can pick it up and attack anyone else with it, and the argument doesn’t actually change except on the most superficial level.
I mostly meant the later, but the former is not exactly uncommon (Satanic Ritual Abuse in 90s America, the current “Gays are raping their adopted children” thing in Russia, the exaggeration of German war crimes in the ‘Rape of Belgium’ in WWI, etc.).
The reason I call it Dark Arts is because it’s an argument where it’s validity is virtually irrelevant to its effectiveness, and in fact encourages exaggeration omission and equivocation even if no outright lies are told. It’s a rhetorical weapon; anyone can pick it up and attack anyone else with it, and the argument doesn’t actually change except on the most superficial level.