Making arguments without sounding like an idiot By Rob Martin

Your credibility matters

Two types of persuasion Legitimate Argument rooted in facts, logic, reason Political Argument rooted in things other than facts, logic, and reason Body language, tone, psychology, etc.

Logical fallacies to avoid Red Herrings (changing the subject) Circular Arguments (assuming the conclusion) Ad Hominem (attacking the arguer) Appeal to Emotion Straw Man (oversimplifying and attacking) Moral Equivalence (there is only one Hitler)

Red Herrings “We need more revenue to support the programs that we have. Children are our future. Let’s support children.” “Evolution and Religion can co-exist. Darwin was a Catholic.” “Donald Trump is a good president. It could have been Hillary!” or conversely “Hillary would have made a great president! She won the popular vote!” The Test for a Red Herring: What the hell does A have to do with B?

Circular arguments Women should be able to choose to terminate a pregnancy, so abortion should be legal. The Bible is the word of God because God says it is. Pvt. Joe Bowers: What are these electrolytes? Do you even know? Secretary of State: They're... what they use to make Brawndo! Pvt. Joe Bowers: But why do they use them to make Brawndo? Secretary of Defense: Because Brawndo's got electrolytes. Test: Are your conclusion and evidence the same?

Ad Hominem Libtard Extremist Racist Radical Crazy If you are attacking the speaker and not the argument, you are making an ad hominem attack. The problem: Crying Wolf.

Appeal to emotion Why do you think you are well suited for this job? I am incredibly passionate! There must be objective rights and wrongs in the universe.  If not, how can you possibly say that torturing babies for fun could ever be right? We should support foreign wars because it is our patriotic duty to support our troops!

Strawman You don’t support banning the sale of AR-15s to civilians; therefore, you want to see more dead kids. Evolution is not real. My grandfather was not a Monkey. You don’t believe in God? So you think this whole universe is an accident that just invented itself? Republicans do not support expanding social programs for the poor; therefore, Republicans hate the poor. Similar to the Ad Hominem, but add a significant oversimplification of the opponents position.

Moral Equivalence Socialism is evil. The Soviet Government killed over 200 million of its own people! Donald Trump’s bombastic rhetoric is very similar to Hitler’s Consuming meat is akin to the Holocaust If you are comparing something you dislike to something objectively evil, you are committing this fallacy