Monday, August 13, 2012

Humor Item: Bad Argument Generator

I previously posted this on Behind MLM, thought I'd repost it here...

Bad Arguers... This is a free template to generate a bad argument message "proving" your pet scheme is not a scam. This is a DO NOT DO list. Don't complain when you get ridiculed when your argument end up looking like it came out of this generator.


Sentence 1: Pick one of the following –
  • Lots of hilarious opinions here
  • I see a lot of speculation and very little fact
  • Bunch of amateur wannabe analysts here.
  • You guys have no idea what you’re talking about
Sentence 1.5: (scheme name) is not a scam.

Sentence 2: Pick one or more of the following
  • Sour grapes — you must be jealous of our success
  • You’re not in it— you must be a member to understand us, how it REALLY works
  • You just don’t understand us / it / whatever. You don’t have the mindset / positive attitude / training.
  • It paid me — and that’s all that matters
  • appeal to association with authority — (scheme name) is associated with big names, it can’t possibly be a scam!
  • “every thing else is a scam” — social security, federal reserve, IMF, are all scams. Why don’t you go after those?
  • anecdotal fallacy — i.e. “It’s not a scam (to me)” and my experience must be the universal truth
  • “appeal to age” — (Scheme name) / (Scheme parent company) is X years old! They have to know what they’re doing (to have last this long)!
  • “it ain’t a scam unless it’s convicted” — it haven’t been declared illegal (yet!)
  • “disgruntled” — you must be bitter from a prior failure
  • “Conspiracy” — you must work for a competitor / you’re just out to get hits for your blog / you are the 1% out to keep us 99% poor
  • “caveat emptor” — we know what we’re getting into and we don’t like being lectured to!
  • “appeal to lack of authority” — You have no reputation and therefore your evidence is worthless and your logic worthless.
  • “What’s your problem” — you must have a personal grudge against (Scheme leader) to say bad things about his company
  • fairness fallacy — you’re not being fair! You are biased! I demand you to present facts FAVORABLE to (scheme)!
  • Pick some other fallacy from fallacyfiles.org
Sentence 3: Pick one of the following:
  • So go ahead and bash, I’ll be laughing from the bank
  • You’re just negative
  • Why don’t you just leave us alone


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5 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I read a comment by a Protandim shill to Lazy Man's Protandim Scam blog post that perfectly embodies this. In fact...I think the dude who wrote it just went for broke and included every single thing on your list just to make sure that he had his bases covered. :P

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  2. This is so accurate.....too funny! Fits the Protandim pushers perfectly!

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  3. This is meant as a generic template against all shady schemes, not just whatever woo-pusher you hate. :) I've seen this used in many scams before, some of them does not involve selling woo.

    It's also a tool for people who are looking to rebuke such claims... how to spot them and defeat them.

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  4. Of course, Kasey. That's well understood. In fact, I've been doing my part to help arm folks with the tools that they need to spot and avoid being taken in by various scams for the better part of six years now. That I mentioned Protandim in particular is only reflective of how I came across this blog entry. Lazy Man just happened to link here in a response he wrote to a comment that a distributor left to his "Protandim Scam" blog is all. ;)

    I'm not entirely sure, but I strongly believe that that is how LisaRob found her way here as well.

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  5. All I can say is... GMTA! :) (Great minds think alike)

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