Wooly Rhetorical Tricks

February 27, 2003 1:00 AM

The Wooly Bullies Of MetaFilter - Uncovered! Sweating heavily as I perused this unholy website's rhetorical machinations late into the night, I was suddenly shaken by a strange feeling of dread, for it was the spectre of MetaFilter itself I was seeing before my bulging eyes, in all its hideous familiarity, emerging from the fetid depths of my guilt-wracked soul...
posted by MiguelCardoso (16 comments total)

Wow. That was... eerie.
posted by taz at 1:19 AM on February 27, 2003

Finally, a list. I've been working on trying most of those, but haven't gotten to some of the more obscure ones.

Thanks a million!

Unfortunately, I haven't sucessfully elicited most of the responses, apart from moral one upmanship. Bummer. I guess I need to post more.
posted by shepd at 2:14 AM on February 27, 2003

Ahh Miguel. Trust you to try to refer to such an obscure source in order to somehow "prove" your vague theories. That's just so cold and unAmerican. :-)
posted by seanyboy at 2:42 AM on February 27, 2003

Would it have hurt the creators terribly to put them all on one page?

(Oh-- excellent content, though.)
posted by skryche at 4:49 AM on February 27, 2003

Blur the distinction between claiming to make your case, and actually making it. If anyone notices this, act surprised and wounded.
This is classic.
posted by Fabulon7 at 5:49 AM on February 27, 2003

skryche: How they presented it isn't important. My personal theory is they did it to help us link. Isn't linking the obvious reason? Of course, these are the words of an obscure Mefite.
posted by ?! at 5:53 AM on February 27, 2003

http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/rhetoric.php should be issued to all standup comics as core doctrine for heckler warfare.
posted by basilwhite at 5:57 AM on February 27, 2003

You all sounds like a bunch of armchair cyber-anthropologists.
posted by Space Coyote at 6:09 AM on February 27, 2003

Thanks for the link Miguel! This is great!
posted by nofundy at 6:21 AM on February 27, 2003

of course, in the unmolested linearity of situational experiences, the spectre of the scientist elevated to a level of obscurity equivalent to that of the oft-maligned, alcohol-powered scion of portuguese bombast begs us to ruminate: live? or memorex?
posted by quonsar at 6:30 AM on February 27, 2003

Try The Logical Fallacies index. Half of Metafilter is using tricks from it, 99,9% of Fark too. Politicians make a living out of it.
posted by elpapacito at 6:47 AM on February 27, 2003

What kind of Flame Warrior are you?
posted by stbalbach at 7:45 AM on February 27, 2003

Great Link. Thanks MC. I love this stuff.
posted by lampshade at 7:52 AM on February 27, 2003

Next Up: Someone needs to take this list and, for each heading, link to a specific humorous example of such a comment on Mefi. Now that would be funny.
posted by Shane at 8:28 AM on February 27, 2003

not to mention an instant flamefest.
posted by quonsar at 8:42 AM on February 27, 2003

This list definitely has entertainment value for Mefites! It also reminds me of a book written by a famous attorney (can't recall his name though) elucidating the application of Sun Tzi's Art of War strategies in legal battles. Shouldn't there be fair warning on such book & list that indiscriminate or long-term use will destroy your karma?
posted by taratan at 10:23 AM on February 27, 2003