The Strawman Argument

By Deane Barker •

Also known as: Reductive Argument

We have a tendency to create arguments for the opposing viewpoint, then defeat them, when the argument we’ve created might not be accurate and we might have created it just because it was easy to defeat. “You think X, and that’s obviously wrong because of Y.” In truth, the other side might not think X at all. So-named for the history of practicing swordsmanship skills on a manikin made of straw, which was clearly easy to defeat.

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