That's Not An Argument, THIS Is An Argument

There is an old truism, 'say something long enough and people will believe it'.

We've seen it with idiot 9/11 conspiracy theorists whose crazy ideas resonate in the echo chamber of like-minded fools.

The 'truthers' seem so sincere and their hysteria gets so much coverage that it seems circumspect to nod and say that maybe there is something to it after all.

But they’re wrong.

When not armed with facts and confident in the truth, it's very easy to find oneself swayed by sentiment or by someone else's argument, especially if they're arguing with passion.

Witness the reaction to the story on News.com.au on the Prime Minister's comments on Victorian Law Reform Commission recommendations that homosexual couples be allowed to adopt or have IVF treatment.

Howard said, quite sensibly that children should have a mother and a father.

The 359 comments that follow the story are a revelation and point to three forms of debating style that cannot correctly be called argument.

Monty Python wittily describes the difference.

The Mantra

C of Bris, did you get to choose the colour of eyes or hair, or skin? No... Homosexuality is not a choice. let's repeat this and try and drum it into your stupid mind. Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice! Being gay is NOT a choice!
Posted by: Ignorance Example Number1 of City 1:03pm today
Comment 137 of 359

Apart from being an example of obsessive behaviour, Ignorance Example Number1 of City epitomises the noise that people whose position is unsupportable have to make in order to get their message heard.

It serves to wear down any innate or instinctive belief in the contrary position.

It's similar to the old psychology class experiment on peer pressure and independent thought. You clue in all the class with the exception of three to five people that a simple question with only one right answer is to be asked. The students will be asked to agree on and support a wrong answer (for example 3+5=9) to see what happens.

More often than not the handful of students who are subjects of the experiment will end up agreeing with their peers because of weight of numbers, even though they know their classmates are wrong. In other words they don't have the courage of their beliefs or the ability to articulate them or it's just easier to go with the flow.

The ‘Hater’
My own position on whether homosexuals are appropriate parents for children is well known, but what is striking about the News comments is the utter inability for some people to see what is perfectly true because of their own bias.

I'm stunned that a common sense statement like 'kids need a mum and a dad' is seen as controversial.
Posted by: Nora Charles of Queensland 2:56pm today
Comment 255 of 359

Which elicits this response:

" I'm stunned that a common sense statement like 'kids need a mum and a dad' is seen as controversial " Common sense? it may very well not be true. I'm sure centuries ago people like you were stunned when they were told the Earth is round.
Posted by: Pj of Sydney 3:35pm today
Comment 283 of 359

The truth is children do grow up healthier (both physically and psychologically), happier and wealthier when raised by their biological mother and father (under the commitment of marriage) and this is supported by an overwhelming range of evidence.

The fact that some children do not have that opportunity for a variety of reasons doesn't invalidate this. To argue otherwise is specious.

Another tactic used by people who don't have the weight of reason on their side is to shut down debate by accusing their opponent of 'hating'. In this case invectives of redneck, hater, bigot and homophobe are used liberally in the comments.

Funnily enough, those who argue that homosexuality is normal and is just as good an arrangement to raise children in as heterosexual families and claim evidence to do so, aren't even supported by the gay advocacy research with which they try to use to bolster their argument.

I’m entitled to my opinion
But repeated mantras and accusations of ‘-isms’ (racism, sexism etc) do not a convincing argument make and in fact point to another problem we have in society – holding beliefs based on nothing more substantial than feelings.

We see this in another form of style often phrased as, ‘I’m entitled to my opinion’. Indeed everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it doesn’t mean their opinion, no matter how sincerely held is correct.

Unfortunately a lot of young people often try to validate their beliefs with this phrase possibly as a result of two generations of education experimentation that has taught them that there are no absolutes, only opinions, all of which are equally valid.

While this might be true of truly subjective things (chocolate cake is better than marzipan), it cannot be true of objective things (gravity will still pull things back down to Earth no matter what your opinion).

It would appear that people aren’t taught or have forgotten the difference between subjectivity and objectivity in the pursuit of trying to validate all beliefs.

-- Nora