The Cake is NOT a Lie

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I begrudge the people who seem to think making a point for comedic effect is tantamount to "strawman arguments" and feel the need to wave the title around haphazardly like a kid playing T-Ball.

"Definition of a Strawman Argument:
Person A has position X.
Person B disregards certain key points of X.
Person B instead presents the superficially similar position Y.
Person B attacks position Y, concluding that X is false/incorrect/flawed.”

Basically it means taking what someone says, throwing it out the window, and then arguing against an entirely different point to come out on top. Here's an example of it working: "If you are against the invasion of *random country*, you are a hippie!"

Not that there's anything actually WRONG with using a strawman argument for the purposes of joke telling, any more than there is using established tricks and traditions to tell an entertaining story. I just wish people would stop crying "foul!" because they think memorizing the database of tvTropes.com gives them "special powers" they must bless upon the rest of us.

27th March 2012