Stupidest logic you've heard in arguments.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Jan 6, 2013 23:46:44 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Speaking of the Japan earthquake/tsunami, one of the stupidest arguments I've ever heard was that we shouldn't have sent them aid because it was "payback for Pearl Harbor."

I mean, putting aside that the end of World War 2 was nearly 70 years ago and that since then the United States and Japan have become staunch allies. I think we paid them back in kind for Pearl Harbor with a little something called "nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Also, considering the Japanese attacked a military base and the US attacked civilian zones, it's probably best not to talk about who deserves payback.

Of course, the concept of anyone deserving payback for what happened decades earlier, done by unrelated people and during a war is ridiculous to begin with.


Speaking of overly patriotic US citizens, I always get a chuckle out of "if it weren't for us, you'd be speaking German right now!". Aside from the complete ignorance of WW2 history this shows, I'd like to mention that if it weren't for us, there wouldn't be a USA to begin with.
Okay not really, the colonies would most probably have gained independence regardless (and I do believe France wasn't the only country who supported them), but if we're going with grotesque oversimplification of history, you get my point.

But American people are definitely not the only ones who act like that, I remember many people saying that 9/11 wasn't a big deal because American companies and its government have oppressed poor countries, or because there are people who die because they're too poor to afford food or health care every day and nobody talks about them. First, people do talk about them and second, that's the fault of the random people who never hurt anyone and were trying to live their life in peace how?




I heard some pretty unbelievable arguments for why the Wii was better than any other console back when it first came out. Aside from the usual "it makes you do sport" one (waving a piece of plastic in front of a screen does not count as sport. Hell, it barely counts as exercise. If you really want to do sport, go outside and do it. Many of them can be done for free too), I once read in a chat room, and I s*** you not:

"The Wii pwns the PS3 because the PS3 breaks if you drop it."

First, I'm pretty sure the Wii does too. Second, yes, that's what tends to happen when you drop intricate machinery not designed to be dropped. Also, how often does one put their home console in a situation it which it might fall?




I also hate the "prove me wrong this instant or admit I'm right" type of argument. I like to call it the Miles Edgeworth Gambit, as this argument is pretty much the same as when in the Ace Attorney games, the opposing lawyer ALWAYS thinks that if you can't prove them wrong, that means they're right, even if they have no proof of their own argument and you have already established your logic as being sensible. And much like in these games, people who use that logic always do so completely out of the blue when they have ran out of actually relevant points to make.
It's usually done by people asking you to immediately provide a list of examples (usually a specific number) that back up your argument, preferably using ridiculously narrow (yet sufficiently open to interpretation for them to blow you off) descriptions of what they consider a valid example and if you can't, that obviously means you have no proof of what you're saying and your argument is illogical. This is a ridiculous attempt to win an argument as:

_NO-ONE can ever come up with a list of an arbitrary number of examples on the spot unless they actually prepared it, and unless you're absolutely obsessive, you don't prepare lists of dozens of examples for every argument you make;

_They decide what makes an acceptable example, an absolutely ridiculous idea in any debate which only serves to prevent you from using obvious examples, narrowing your choices and make you unable to use any examples you might have actually prepared;

_They ALWAYS voice their conditions in such a way that it leaves them able to interpret them so they can claim your examples don't fit;

_They hope this logic will make you forget that they never bothered to bring up any example to their point;

_The only reason they wait for you to provide examples is so they can say "yeah but this one doesn't count because...";

_If they don't know an example you mentioned, they'll dismiss it as obscure, and for some reason tat means it's not valid;

_examples are not proof of the veracity of a reasoning. They are used to illustrate a point, not prove or disprove it.


This logic is the real life equivalent of the comedy routine of the guy who comes up with a new sport or game and keeps changing the rules as they see fit to make sure they win. There is no point in playing along as you are forced to go by their vaguely defined rules, which completely breaks the equality required for an actual debate to take place.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 6, 2013 23:46:44 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Jan 6, 2013 18:14:58 GMT -5 Glitch said:

lol.
Reminds me of when the tsunami hit Japan. some person actually said "we shouldn't give them any money. Instead we should cheer them on so they work harder."

Speaking of the Japan earthquake/tsunami, one of the stupidest arguments I've ever heard was that we shouldn't have sent them aid because it was "payback for Pearl Harbor."

I mean, putting aside that the end of World War 2 was nearly 70 years ago and that since then the United States and Japan have become staunch allies. I think we paid them back in kind for Pearl Harbor with a little something called "nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Off topic on the thread.

My freshman year of high school we had a Japanese foreign exchange student. Everyone loved him. He went to the wrong house for a halloween party and some stupid redneck shot him. Senior year his family came to the school and we had an assembly. Towards the end they had a Q&A session and some guy (maybe a parent) stood up and asked them how they felt about Pearl Harbor. Me and my friends were so mad we took up stations at the exits to look for him. We must have missed him but if we hadnt something bad would have happened. We were not violent people but for some piece of crap to bring up something that happened 70 years ago when these people were not even alive at what was essentially their sons American wake was ignorant and reprehensible.

[Dub H]

Jan 7, 2013 6:12:12 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Jan 6, 2013 23:46:44 GMT -5 Cyno said:

I also hate the "prove me wrong this instant or admit I'm right" type of argument. I like to call it the Miles Edgeworth Gambit, as this argument is pretty much the same as when in the Ace Attorney games, the opposing lawyer ALWAYS thinks that if you can't prove them wrong, that means they're right, even if they have no proof of their own argument and you have already established your logic as being sensible. And much like in these games, people who use that logic always do so completely out of the blue when they have ran out of actually relevant points to make.
It's usually done by people asking you to immediately provide a list of examples (usually a specific number) that back up your argument, preferably using ridiculously narrow (yet sufficiently open to interpretation for them to blow you off) descriptions of what they consider a valid example and if you can't, that obviously means you have no proof of what you're saying and your argument is illogical. This is a ridiculous attempt to win :
quote]

I had recently one like this right one this forum,not going to call names of course.But it is extremely annoying,even more when they always make..excuses to why your example is wrong.It is easier not to bother.

[Alexander The So-so]

Jan 7, 2013 7:45:08 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Jan 6, 2013 23:46:44 GMT -5 Cyno said:

Speaking of the Japan earthquake/tsunami, one of the stupidest arguments I've ever heard was that we shouldn't have sent them aid because it was "payback for Pearl Harbor."

I mean, putting aside that the end of World War 2 was nearly 70 years ago and that since then the United States and Japan have become staunch allies. I think we paid them back in kind for Pearl Harbor with a little something called "nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Off topic on the thread.

My freshman year of high school we had a Japanese foreign exchange student. Everyone loved him. He went to the wrong house for a halloween party and some stupid redneck shot him. Senior year his family came to the school and we had an assembly. Towards the end they had a Q&A session and some guy (maybe a parent) stood up and asked them how they felt about Pearl Harbor. Me and my friends were so mad we took up stations at the exits to look for him. We must have missed him but if we hadnt something bad would have happened. We were not violent people but for some piece of crap to bring up something that happened 70 years ago when these people were not even alive at what was essentially their sons American wake was ignorant and reprehensible.

You knew Yoshihiro Hattori? Her mom is famous here as a gun control activist; I just read an article in the Japan Times newspaper about her and her son this past month.

[Red Impact]

On facebook, a subject that cannot be talked about on this forum had someone argue. "Well, that's just your logic, your logic is not the same as my logic and your logic could be wrong." Which was essentially just someone saying 'nuh-uh!' and trying to make it sound clever.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Jan 7, 2013 9:36:05 GMT -5 Red Impact said:

On facebook, a subject that cannot be talked about on this forum had someone argue. "Well, that's just your logic, your logic is not the same as my logic and your logic could be wrong." Which was essentially just someone saying 'nuh-uh!' and trying to make it sound clever.

Oh yeah! I always hate the "well that's just YOUR opinion" argument. Yes, yes it is. That's why we're having a discussion, because we have different opinions and want to explain them to each-other. I never tried to state that I was undeniably right. What did you expect to accomplish by saying that?!

[darthalexander]

My mother is the type of person you could invite over a hundred times but she'd turn you down a hundred times. If you don't invite her for a 101st time, she gets upset and livid.

I have seen this in my life more times than I can remember and to this day it still happens.

So when it happens, I tell her - "Look mom, how many times are people going to allow themselves to be rejected by you before they give up?"

She then accuses me of being a traitor to her, I'm a Benedict Arnold for taking their side, I just don't understand, I should shut up because I obviously don't know what I'm talking about, etc.

She then will go on and on in a rant about how awful these people are for rejecting her and that they're not nice and they think they're so "great".

So then let's say she does actually accept the invite. What she then does is try to find a way out of it and laments like hell over the fact she has to go. She whines and whines about how awful it will be and how she doesn't want to go. She even asks me to help her come up with excuses to get out of it.

After she cancels, she then goes on rants about how her life is boring and that she does nothing exciting.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 7, 2013 9:13:20 GMT -5 Alexander The So-so said:

Jan 7, 2013 7:45:08 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Off topic on the thread.

My freshman year of high school we had a Japanese foreign exchange student. Everyone loved him. He went to the wrong house for a halloween party and some stupid redneck shot him. Senior year his family came to the school and we had an assembly. Towards the end they had a Q&A session and some guy (maybe a parent) stood up and asked them how they felt about Pearl Harbor. Me and my friends were so mad we took up stations at the exits to look for him. We must have missed him but if we hadnt something bad would have happened. We were not violent people but for some piece of crap to bring up something that happened 70 years ago when these people were not even alive at what was essentially their sons American wake was ignorant and reprehensible.

You knew Yoshihiro Hattori? Her mom is famous here as a gun control activist; I just read an article in the Japan Times newspaper about her and her son this past month.

Yes. He was a great guy. Loved everyone and everything. Never a bad word to say. I only had one class with him but he changed my life just knowing him.

[Deleted]

When defending actors/musicians/athletes people will argue, "He's not doing it for the money - he's already rich!"

Which is probably the dumbest line of reasoning I've ever heard. I guess these people haven't followed business news for the past ten years.

[Hugh Mungus]

*Replying to an argument with a "TL;DR", "Cool story, bro", "Didn't read LOL", or the like.

*When it comes to the NFL, bring up Spygate or Bountygate to a Patriots or Saints fan, respectively, and it's more likely they'll end the argument there.

*The "true/real fan" argument: Fandom's version of Godwin's Law

[Push R Truth]

Jan 7, 2013 13:38:19 GMT -5 Hugh Mungus said:

*When it comes to the NFL, bring up Spygate or Bountygate to a Patriots or Saints fan, respectively, and it's more likely they'll end the argument there.

I gotta call foul on half of this statement. If you bring up the Bounties on the Saints, you'll more than likely get a 30 page thesis on why The NFL, The Commishl, The United States Government and The Pope are trying to bury the franchise because it's totally what they want to do. It's part of the master plan! Gotta kill them Saints! It's what the Illuminati want. The fate of our world rests on the destruction and burial of the New Orleans Saints.

[Bo Rida]

Jan 6, 2013 20:37:51 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

"Well, you've never done _____ before, so how can you even comment?"

That one is really stupid.

The worse example is football players, managers or pundits complaining that the referee couldn't know something because they've never played at the top level.
Of course they haven't played at a high level or they wouldn't be a f***ing referee, either because they'd have a great big pile of money and wouldn't ever have to work again or because it takes far too long to work your way up to being a top referee before enforced retirement if you've had a late start.

[Deleted]

I f***ing hate the "Well, you're only ____ years old."

I am sorry, I didn't realize that I needed to wait to reach an arbitrary age decided upon by you before I could have an opinion about seemingly anything.

In some instances, I'm sure it's accurate in a "you'll see once you have some more life experience" kind of way. But I wholeheartedly disagree that it relies on age.

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Jan 7, 2013 19:11:56 GMT -5 @dobedobedo said:

I f***ing hate the "Well, you're only ____ years old."

I am sorry, I didn't realize that I needed to wait to reach an arbitrary age decided upon by you before I could have an opinion about seemingly anything.

In some instances, I'm sure it's accurate in a "you'll see once you have some more life experience" kind of way. But I wholeheartedly disagree that it relies on age.

The funny thing is the more I grow up the more I realize many adults are full of s*** and experience didn't actually teach them much, certainly not more than to a teenager.

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2013 19:22:41 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Jan 7, 2013 19:11:56 GMT -5 @dobedobedo said:

I f***ing hate the "Well, you're only ____ years old."

I am sorry, I didn't realize that I needed to wait to reach an arbitrary age decided upon by you before I could have an opinion about seemingly anything.

In some instances, I'm sure it's accurate in a "you'll see once you have some more life experience" kind of way. But I wholeheartedly disagree that it relies on age.

The funny thing is the more I grow up the more I realize many adults are full of s*** and experience didn't actually teach them much, certainly not more than to a teenager.

Haha, yup. It's like when you realize your parents were just kind of winging and (depending on your situation) they got pretty lucky with how you turned out.