This is topic Meta-argument, anyone? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.


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Posted by pickled shuttlecock (Member # 1714) on :
 
Unfounded accusation followed by a false argument with an appeal to authority. Straw man set up and attacked with vengeance. Accused presented with a false dilemma wherein both choices benefit accuser. Accused's position generalized and shown to be unpopular.

Anybody want to play?
 


Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
 
Contradiction of every point made by pickled shuttlecock.*

Q.E.D.

*Footnotes with references to various authoritative sources.

[This message has been edited by EricJamesStone (edited February 02, 2004).]
 


Posted by loggrad98 (Member # 1724) on :
 
WTF???

Empty bottle of vodka, scrambled porn on the TV, sleeping on the floor in underwear.
 


Posted by pickled shuttlecock (Member # 1714) on :
 
Authoritative sources shown by accuser to reference only each other on matters associated with the topic, and are dismissed as intellectual inbreeding. (Counterexamples are deftly ignored.) Accuser shifts attention away from his own fallacious arguments by pointing out minor inconsistencies and spelling errors in the accused's. Fun is poked. Observers laugh. Straw man is resurrected and attacked a second time. Accused position is re-cast as something orthogonal to the original generalization and again shown to be unpopular.

(loggrad98: A "meta-argument" is a description of an argument. We're not actually having one, just describing a fictional one. 'Tis a word game, which we writers are supposed to enjoy. It also makes you think at a more abstract level...but mostly, it's just fun.)
 


Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :
 
As a defensive play, the Accused reveals incriminating evidence to the Authority, in the form of a discarded memo. Authoritative eyebrows raise and Accuser begins to perspire. Authority figure removes said memo from Accused and inquires to Accuser about validity of said memo.

How's that?
 


Posted by Phanto (Member # 1619) on :
 
The room suddenly hushes, as if an evil site had been seen.

Then the mailperson comes and drops off the mail...

The mail is read.
pickled shuttlecock is suddenly attacked by a gigantic mob, shouting, "Pizza! Pizza!"
 


Posted by Gwalchmai (Member # 1807) on :
 
Pickled shuttlecok immediately phones for pizza. Pizza arrives, anchovies not withheld, pizza delivery boy found at bottom of stairs in suspicious circumstances. Police arrive, inspect pizza, agree pizza delivery boy got what he deserved, arrest Phanto instead for perverting the course of a meta-argument.

 
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
 
Lies are told with straight-faced certainty or manufactured outrage, and repeated with such mind-numbing frequency that they are accepted as truth.
 
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
 
Are you sure we're discussing meta-arguments and not cheap politics?
 
Posted by ccwbass (Member # 1850) on :
 
A word, in this case "politics", is latched onto by inattentive thread reader who then assumes that the thread is about politics. Thread drift occurs. Attempts to steer discussion back to "meta arguments" will be ignored by reader, who will instead use every opportunity to wax philosophical about Dean's "Yeeeaarrrrgh!" moment.

And Dr. Pepper. (C'mon - you were expecting it.)

[This message has been edited by ccwbass (edited February 04, 2004).]
 


Posted by loggrad98 (Member # 1724) on :
 
Sticking with the vodka and scrambled porn...
 


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