A variation of this that I am very guilty of is only fighting my arguments on the other party’s territory.
Instead of taking a position myself I just “try to understand” the other party’s argument and in the process lead them down the garden path to a contradiction. When pressed on what I think, I usually reply “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.”
Socrates seems to have fathered this tactic. He never claimed to be wise (but we call him wise).
Respectfully, I don’t think he ended up all that wise, and neither am I when I argue this way. It does make me seem very wise, if only because it confounds my counterparties and I leave no target for counter-attack.
It’s usually easier to prove others wrong than prove yourself right. Showing that their beliefs are contradictory is winning, even if their belief is that the sky is blue because blue light is scattered the most due to Rayleigh scattering. Showing that this (only slightly wrong, but nonetheless contradictory) belief is contradictory does not prove the sky to be mauve, or in any way not blue.
A variation of this that I am very guilty of is only fighting my arguments on the other party’s territory.
Instead of taking a position myself I just “try to understand” the other party’s argument and in the process lead them down the garden path to a contradiction. When pressed on what I think, I usually reply “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.”
Socrates seems to have fathered this tactic. He never claimed to be wise (but we call him wise).
Respectfully, I don’t think he ended up all that wise, and neither am I when I argue this way. It does make me seem very wise, if only because it confounds my counterparties and I leave no target for counter-attack.
It’s usually easier to prove others wrong than prove yourself right. Showing that their beliefs are contradictory is winning, even if their belief is that the sky is blue because blue light is scattered the most due to Rayleigh scattering. Showing that this (only slightly wrong, but nonetheless contradictory) belief is contradictory does not prove the sky to be mauve, or in any way not blue.