ON LOGICAL FALLACIES & TWITTER.
Before the pandemic I didn't use Twitter much. Now I am becoming an expert on the many types of logical fallacies that people who do NOT have any arguments use to try to discredit scientists
A good list here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_f…
When people do not reply to the arguments being made, doesn't provide data or analysis, often resort to various types of ad hominem attacks
Take it as a compliment (you won argument, they have nothing else to say) & disengage
If they insult, then block
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
3/ I've decided to catalogue and respond here to some of the most common things I am confronted with, in an attempt to diminish my expertise, question my motives, and turn people against me in general.
4/ Here "Appeal to motive", evidence-free, that I say #COVIDisAirborne because I benefit from sales of CO2 meters, HEPA filters, or whatever
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to…
For record: I have no such financial interests whatsoever. I've spent $$ on those things for donations & family
5/ Another "Appeal to motive"(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to…), but different one
This time I am trying to "be a protagonist" & get attention
[For record: I have a day job, I am tired of this. Was hoping pandemic decreasing in summer, tweeted a lot less. Oh well, didn't work that way]
6/ A "Bare Assertion Fallacy": Deny evidence that makes their position untenable. E.g. minimize #LongCOVID for those favoring mass infection
As @svillapol, who does research on LongCOVID explains, very real & will be a major health burden after pandemic:
7/ BTW my motivation to write this thread is to educate others (and myself) on these fallacies and how to respond to them. Some are more obvious, some less so
When I was new to twitter, wasted a lot of time dealing with them. Hope to save others time
Nothing to do w/ this:
8/ Tone policing (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_poli…) – focusing on emotion behind (or resulting from) a message rather than the message itself as a discrediting tactic.
Here put in use by #DrBonnieHenry of @CDCofBC
HT @FarmhouseBySea
@CDCofBC @FarmhouseBySea 9/ Indeed this is also what I do in response to an Ad Hominem attack (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem).
But many of the other fallacies are trickier to deal with.
10/ A thought-terminating cliché (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-t…) is another type of logical fallacy:
"Its only function is to stop an argument from proceeding further, in other words "end the debate with a cliché... not a point."
In heavy use right now:
11/ The "Normalcy Bias" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_…) has also been prominent in the pandemic, especially at the start, but also w/ each wave:
"There are 3 phases of response: 'denial, deliberation, and the decisive moment'. Ppl were likely to deny that a disaster was happening"
12/ One example of the Normalcy Bias (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_…) on early responses of many experts to the pandemic. There had not been a really bad pandemic for over a century, didn't believe it could happen / warn the public / prepare.
E.g. Feb. 2020:
keranews.org/health-science…
13/ Something we have endured while fighting #DropletDogma & demonstrating #COVIDisAirborne: "Courtier's Reply"(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtier%…)
"Respondent to criticism claims that critic lacks sufficient knowledge, credentials, or training to pose any sort of criticism whatsoever"
14/ E.g. example of Courtier's reply (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtier%…) from @WHO committee member (@Metadoc) totally dismissing our expertise as relevant (livescience.com/coronavirus-ai…)
Also mixing in an "Appeal to motive" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to…) implying we must have financial interests.
15/ Most interesting about the logical fallacy (Courtier's Reply) used by @Metadoc to dismiss airborne transmission experts as not having relevant expertise to discuss COVID transmission through air:
He himself is an expert on... transmission of diseases through WATER, not air!
16/ "Appeals to Authority" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_…) are also extremely common
E.g. @WHO official @allegranzib using it together with Courtier's reply (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtier%…) against the 239 scientists that signed Jul-2020 letter of #COVIDisAirborne:
nature.com/articles/d4158…
17/ The mix of Appeals to Authority / Courtier's Reply by @WHO et al. against airborne / aerosol scientists has been so prominent that @trishgreenhalgh wrote a whole paper about this dynamic (explaining it with more sophisticated Bourdieusian theory):
wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/6-126
18/ The fallacy of relative privation: (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_f…:
"The fallacy of minimizing 1 harm by pointing out a more severe harm is fallacy of relative privation. Has been commonly employed to minimize how COVID-19 has harmed children"
@Dr_ScottK
sciencebasedmedicine.org/cognitive-illu…
19/ "Traitorous Critic Fallacy" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergo_dece…): "implying that the critic is motivated by undisclosed favorability or affiliation to out-group, rather than responding to the criticism. Critic should avoid the question or topic entirely"
E.g.:
20/ Thanks to multiple people are pointing out other resources, from people who have paid attention to these fallacies much longer than me:
- logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallaci…
- yourlogicalfallacyis.com
- catalogofbias.org
-
21/ "Affirming a Disjunct" Fallacy (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirming…)
"Concluding 1 disjunct must be false bc the other disjunct is true. They may both be true bc 'or' is defined inclusively, not exclusively"
E.g.: pharma industry is bad, so vaccines not good
22/ Another "thought-terminating cliché" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-t…), from government official (@ArrudaHoracio)
"Air cleaners give false sense of security"
Totally made up, but used widely to end discussion about something they don't want to pay for
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