So there’s this thing people do, it’s harmless enough, but it also sort of hints at a completely incoherent style of thinking. It is absolutely unfair to judge people by random shit they write casually, after all I write like 3 geeked out baboons stacked atop one and other and yet I am a noble and refined rat.
Nonetheless I’m a judgy shit so I do. Ok so the thing? It’s when people use a quote or situation from fiction as a predictor of what will happen in reality. A concrete example from earlier today paraphrased:
p1: I think blah blah thing will happen
p2: Ah but remember men in black? a person is reasonable, people are dumb panicky animals
me: teakettle noises
The causality is utterly confused, MiB cannot be used as evidence, it is written that way because the writer wanted a character to say that. It’s possible a writer wanted a character to say that because the writer believed it to be true, but it’s also possible that it was included for many other reasons.
screeeeeeeeeee
Anyway, share your thoughts. Also your own ridiculous rhetoric irritations.
I call it appeal to cinema. It’s something my dad has picked up and gives me the same frustration and the thought “oh, this conversation is going nowhere in a hurry.”
I remember one time he announced to me that he would “change the question” which is like going “now imagine yourself as this strawman.”
appeal to cinema is a nice punchy name for it!
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