Transcript:

Dirty trick: Turn your opponent into a straw man

If a real man confronted you and you couldn’t beat him, make a straw version of him and break that. This way, many people will think that you have defeated the real hero. In the same way, when confronted with a solid argument, change it into something completely different from the first version.

Then, disagree with the fake argument and win the conversation. 

— In order to have a healthier community we need to educate students regarding sexual matters according to their age group within the schools. 

— So you’re saying we should encourage children to experience sexual relationships? Do you know what effect such an education has on children?

Encouraging children to have sexual relationships? We know that the first person did not say that. The point that the first person was trying to make was that we should educate children about sexual matters according to their age. The second person changed the first person’s words and after, disagreed with the fake words that had no relevance to the first.

Let’s see another example: 

— Look, the main idea of feminism is that men and women have equal rights. No more and no less. 

— Aha, so you don’t believe on the differences between men and women, you think that men and women are exactly the same, even though we all know that men and women have very distinct differences, and this shows that what you’re saying is nonsense?

We know that the first person didn’t say that men and women are exactly the same. He/she said that men and women have equal rights. The second person interpreted what was said wrongly and disagreed with the wrong words.

With this trick, the person makes a straw version of what her/his opponent has said and opposes that and runs away from the actual argument using this method.

Refrence:

Richard, L. E. (2012). The Thinker’s Guide to Fallacies: The Art of Mental Trickery and Manipulation.