How not to argue-Introduction

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We skeptics, constantly find ourselves locked in some pretty fierce debates with believers of various flavors of bullshit. Invariably, we come across the same old bad arguments. Time and time again we are called upon to destroy bad arguments, also known as logical fallacies. Unfortunately, in order to see through the fallacious lines of reasoning we have to deal with, common sense is not enough. We need to learn what an argument is, how to spot and destroy a bad argument and how to construct valid arguments ourselves. This takes time, it takes research and it takes commitment. I once took a logical thinking class, a few years back during my undergraduate years. That class went over the basic structure of an argument, and over the most common logical fallacies. If I had know then how important that class was, I would have paid much more attention than I did.

So, in an effort, to refresh my memory and strengthen my bullshit detector, I am starting a new series, called "How not to argue" which will cover most things that class covered, condensed in short (comparatively) entries. I hope that in the process of my self learning, this will help some of the readers as well. And since some of the readers will probably be more learned than me in this area, please do point out if I make mistakes in what I say, which is bound to happen. Either leave a comment or drop me an e-mail (especially for topic suggestions and online resources) at thoushallthink@gmail.com.