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David Blomstrom

Overreacting sarcastic behavior?

Mr.B: What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific, unlike the other religions?

Mr. A: It depends  on the intelligence level of the listener, low levels are unable to believe

Mr.B told Mr.A that he committed the Ad Hominem fallacy 

Mr.A: Ok, I will be silent forever so you could take your time preaching about what science is 

Mr.B spoke some opinions about the difference between science and religion but this instead caused Mr.A to attack Mr.B that Mr.B never accepts anyone's opinion.

Is there a fallacy name that describes Mr.A's behavior?

 

 

 

asked on Tuesday, Dec 13, 2022 10:09:16 PM by David Blomstrom

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David Blomstrom writes:

You wrote,

"Mr.B: What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific, unlike the other religions?

"Mr. A: It depends  on the intelligence level of the listener, low levels are unable to believe."

Loosely paraphrased:

Mr. B: What evidence do you have support your claim?

Mr. A: Unfortunately, it's all over your head. (Or, conversely: Sorry, but you're too brainwashed too understand.)

* * * * *

In fact, that could be a valid statement in many circumstances. Many people can't understand things I say about conspiracy because they're so brainwashed they think it doesn't even exist. I can't understand some theories about COVID because I don't have a degree in medicine or the relevant branch of biology.

Then again, your question relates to religion, which is a different can of worms. Mr. A is probably just a crackpot.

P.S. I thought someone had coined a fallacy to describe arguments claiming that one's explanation was beyond another person's power to understand, but I can't remember the name. Perhaps I'm mistaken.

posted on Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022 12:21:17 PM

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Answers

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Bo Bennett, PhD
3

What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific, unlike the other religions? 

This is an odd question. Perhaps the one who claimed their religion was "scientific" made the odd claim. There can be claims within the religion that are scientific, but that is all. Point is, this seems like a debate that would go nowhere.

 

It depends on the intelligence level of the listener, low levels are unable to believe 

This sentence is incoherent. Ironic if they are trying seem intelligent. Perhaps they mean that they will present the evidence that their audience is capable of understanding? This makes sense as good communication is about understanding. If someone were to say this to me, I would ask them to assume they are speaking to someone very intelligent, and give me the evidence. What I would expect is some nonsense about quantum physics that they are only pretending to understand. Or in general, they will present nonsense and claim that I am not "intelligent enough" to understand. I have played this game many times before.

I don't see any fallacies in the dialogue you presented. No clear ad hominems. However, if Mr. B made an argument that warranted a response, and Mr. A's response was an attack on Mr. B, that would be an ad hominem (abusive) .

Again, this line of argumentation is odd. If you are Mr. A or Mr. B, I would think about revising the argument/claim to something more clear and specific.

answered on Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022 06:48:33 AM by Bo Bennett, PhD

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account no longer exists writes:

"It depends on the intelligence level of the listener, low levels are unable to believe"

In this sentence, Mr.A attacked Mr.B's level of intelligence because Mr.B couldn't believe the claim about Mr.A's scientific religion

"Ok, I will be silent forever so you could take your time preaching about what science is"

this is the key sentence I'm gonna ask, it seems like Mr.A exaggerated the result of Mr.B's criticism to cause guilt. Is there any fallacy name with a pattern like this

"What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific, unlike the other religions? "

In case you wonder about scientific religion claims, I'm in Thailand, a Buddhist country, where a government or religious Buddhists like to make claims that their doctrines are scientific and scientifically proven but when I ask some, they started to speak like Mr.A

 

 

 

posted on Thursday, Dec 15, 2022 06:21:22 PM
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Bo Bennett, PhD writes:
[To Niti]

It depends on the intelligence level of the listener, low levels are unable to believe

This is just plain wrong. In fact, science points to the opposite. Those with lower levels of general intelligence are on average more susceptible to believing in things that are untrue. They have higher levels of gullibility, because they don't have a large body of facts to draw on. So even it is meant to be an insult, it is more nonsensical.

 Mr.A exaggerated the result of Mr.B's criticism to cause guilt.

If this intent were clear (causing guilt) then it would be more of a rhetorical device.

[ login to reply ] posted on Thursday, Dec 15, 2022 08:47:13 PM
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Trevor Folley
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There appear to be a series of non-sequiturs here.

It depends on the intelligence of the listener, low levels are unable to believe.

It does not follow that someone is unable to believe because they have low levels of intelligence.

Challenge question : How do low levels of intelligence make holding beliefs impossible?

 

I will be silent forever so you could take your time preaching about what science is.

It does not follow that for someone to take their time to preach about science it is necessary for others to be silent forever (just for the time they are preaching).

Challenge question: What would be the point of staying quiet after the 'preaching' had finished?

 

Mr.B spoke some opinions about the difference between science and religion but this instead caused Mr.A to attack Mr.B that Mr.B never accepts anyone's opinion. 

It does not follow that because someone speaks opinions they never accept anyone else's.

Challenge question: How could they possibly know whether Mr.B ever accepts anyone's opinion?

 

answered on Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022 08:25:00 AM by Trevor Folley

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Dr. Richard
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B is on the right track but lost focus. The statement “What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific, unlike the other religions?” goes too far. It should stop before the last phrase and read: What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific?”

When A responds: “It depends  on the intelligence level of the listener, low levels are unable to believe,” the B should say, “That may be true, but what evidence do you have?”

Without the presentation of credible evidence, there is no reason to accept the proposition, which I tacitly understand to be A’s religion is scientific. 

answered on Wednesday, Dec 14, 2022 09:53:29 AM by Dr. Richard

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Kostas Oikonomou
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  1. Question: What do you have to prove that your religion is scientific?
    Answer: It depends on the intelligence level of the listener.
    Comment: Any evidence someone has, are not dependent on the intelligence level of the listener. Only      the level of understanding the validity of the evidence is dependent on the intelligence or the experience  or knowledge of the listener.
  2. Claim: Low (intelligence) levels are unable to believe.
    Comment: People with low intelligence levels are not unable to believe but may be unable to understand and evaluate the evidence. Belief though, has nothing to do with evidence or proof.
  3. "Mr.B told Mr.A that he committed the Ad Hominem fallacy" Actually Mr. A just avoided to answer the question by introducing another claim that "low levels are unable to believe" probably as a red herring . I don't see any Ad Hominem fallacy.
  4. As for Mr.A response "Ok, I will be silent forever so you could take your time preaching about what science is" I can't say I see much connection to the previous dialogue. He's just playing the victim card implying that Mr.B forces him to be silent. That's an implicit and unsupported accusation that Mr.B's purpose is to keep Mr.A silent. Another attempt for red herringI guess. 
  5. "Mr.B spoke some opinions about the difference between science and religion but this instead caused Mr.A to attack Mr.B that Mr.B never accepts anyone's opinion."
    The "never accepts anyone's opinion" implies that Mr.B disagrees not because Mr.A is wrong but because Mr.B wants to disagree with people, which is the psychogenetic fallacy and it is also amazing familiarity because no one could know whether Mr.B disagree with everybody unless that conclusion is deduced only from the interactions with Mr.A, which in that case it is hasty generalization .

answered on Saturday, Dec 17, 2022 01:34:01 PM by Kostas Oikonomou

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