This is an appendix for the book Truth-Based: Defeat Manipulators in Debates, Interviews, and Conversations. In case you haven't seen the book, the core if to help identify and respond to ninety manipulations in politically charged discussions. They fall into categories go from the least to most oppressive. This appendix augments that with more words and phrases to help readers express their own ideas. The Kindle version contains this appendix and the hard copy version does not.
Links to Sections
Level 1. Sloppy Logic: Conclusions Imposed (Ch. 2)
Level 2. The Distraction Attack: Reputation Assaulted (Ch. 3)
Level 3. Less than Logic: Belief Imposed (Ch. 4)
Level 4. Language Tricks: Reality Assaulted (Ch 5)
Level 5. Lies: Details Imposed (Ch. 6)
Level 6. Suppression: Omission Coerced (Ch. 7)
Level 7. The Shell Game: Discourse Swindled (Ch. 8)
Level 8. Emotional Manipulation: Rationality Destroyed (Ch 9)
Level 9. Direct Interference: Functioning Disrupted (Ch 10)
Level 10. Threats and Violence: Oppression Maxed (Ch. 11)
Level Meta: Neuro-Rhetoric (Ch. 13)
Appendix B: Category Reference
Purposes: This reference section serves several purposes:
1. It provides a brief description of each category.
2. It comments on how the categories conform to a hierarchy of oppression that can be useful for political analysis.
3. It provides related names: fallacies, Latin names, formal names, and informal names.
4. It offers words and concepts that may be useful for improving how you write or speak about these moves and related dynamics.
The levels of oppression: The hierarchy of oppression emerged from my need to categorize the moves for this book. There was no system from classical logic that suited my purposes, so I developed this hierarchy to be sensitive to politics from a progressive perspective.
I don’t provide the same material for every section of this appendix. What is offered there depends on what I felt would be helpful and on what was available. For example, not all moves have each type of name (logical fallacy, formal, informal). Here and there, I created lists of synonyms or related concepts when I thought it would be especially helpful to readers wanting to round out their vocabularies.
The categories begin here.
1. Sloppy Logic:
Conclusions Imposed (Ch. 2)
The speaker makes a weak effort at logic or a dishonest use of fake logic.
This first category of moves is the least primitive or oppressive. These moves jump to a conclusion in a way that might appear logical, but are, at best, weak logic.
Related Formal Names
Hasty conclusion, hasty decision, hasty interpretation of evidence
Informal Names
Jumping to a conclusion, running with the ball
♘ FOR SLOPPY LOGIC MOVES
Because of Itself! Circular Logic
Formal Names
Circular reasoning, tautology
Latin Name
Circulus in probando (circle in proving)
Related Moves
Salting the Mine: The Conclusion is Embedded into the Statement without Proof
Repetition: The word “because” is the only thing missing, but functionally speaking, it’s there.
It’s obvious! Same basic idea.
Salting the Mine: Front-Loading the “Logic” with the Conclusion
Formal Names
Begging the Question (Begging, back in the day, meant lacking. So, the speaker’s position includes an assumption that should be questioned.)
Assuming the conclusion
Latin Name
Petitio principii (assuming the premise)
Related Move Category
This move is a form of circular reasoning, but the structure makes it a little less obvious. It is more clearly deceptive.
Gross Generalization: The Unjustified Sweeping Statement
Formal Name
Hasty Generalization
Related Maxim
Individuals are not statistics.
Bigotry, stereotyping, biased sample
Insufficient sample: Not enough examples or subjects for a strong statistical conclusion. A small N (N is the number of subjects or items).
Latin Names
Dicto simpliciter (from a saying without qualification).
A dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid (from the statement unqualified to the statement qualified).
Secundum quid (according to something)
Related Move
Jumping to a Conclusion
False Cause: Wrong about the Cause of Something
Related Moves
Cherry Picking (stacking the deck), Jumping to Conclusions (hasty generalization)
Related Formal Names
Questionable cause fallacy, causal fallacy
Latin Name
Non causa pro causa (non-cause for cause)
Variations on the False Cause Move
Single-Cause Fallacy
Comments on Complexity
Politicians will treat a complex situation as though it has a single cause. But, in truth, these situations can be so unpredictable, I call this complexity the domino orgy. The domino effect is a series of events caused by a trigger event, but the domino orgy has no clear beginning, middle or end. Intervening in a situation with so many variables has been called N-cushion billiards to convey its unpredictability.
First Thing Caused What Came After
Latin
The post hoc fallacy.
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (After this, therefore because of this)
Correlation Equals Causation
Formal Names
Association fallacy
Correlation implies causation
Latin Name
Cum hoc ergo propter hoc (with this, therefore because of this)
Maxim
“Correlation is not causation,” coined by 19th century British statistician Karl Pearson.
The Regression Fallacy
Also Known As
Regression toward the mean, because things that vary back and forth regularly make their way back to the middle or average amount (the mean).
True until Proven False: The Burden of Proving It Untrue Is on You!
Formal Name
Argument from ignorance
Latin Name
Argumentum ad ignorantium (argument from ignorance)
Slippery Slope: Awful Things Will Happen If You Get Your Way.
Formal Name
Slippery slope argument
Related Move
Fear-mongering
Informal Terms
The thin edge of the wedge
The camel’s nose in the tent
If you give a mouse a cookie
Related Phrases, Concepts
Give ’em an inch and they’ll take a mile.
Domino theory (in U.S. foreign policy pertaining to communist countries).
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Bad Analogy
Formal Names
Faulty analogy, weak analogy
Related Concepts
Extended analogy or metaphor: symbolic comparisons. Reagan’s time capsule as a symbol for trusting him with our future. (Discussed in the Hypnotics section of the Neuro-Rhetoric chapter.)
Allegory: A story that has hidden meaning. It is thought that The Wizard of Oz is about the economy.
Simile: A smaller-scale analogy, like, “Your eyes are as beautiful as a spring morning,” or “Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives.”
Conceit: In literature, it is a type of analogy that is central to and extends through a poem or other piece. Otherwise, the term means a self-flattering falsehood or pretense.
The Composition Fallacy
Formal Related Category
Fallacies of oversimplification
Related Concepts
It’s the opposite of the division fallacy.
Instant Self-Contradiction
Related Formal Names
Contradictory premises, logical paradox
Fallacy of special pleading: The speaker asserts a universal principle, then allows an exception to cause a paradox.
Two-Channel Contradiction
This is a modern concept, stemming from our cultural acceptance of the subconscious mind and our exposure to literature and movies that embrace multiple realities. It isn’t necessarily new, but as far as I can tell, does not have a place in older analyses of rhetoric or logic. Same for hypnosis and other neuro-rhetoric.
Apples and Oranges
Formal Name
False Equivalence
2. The Distraction Attack:
Reputation Assaulted (Ch. 3)
The speaker attacks something or someone, as if that proves your argument wrong.
Related Terms
Negative campaigning, smear, distraction
Related Latin Terms and Notes
Ad personam (toward the person), Ad hominem (toward the man)
Implied attack: In the Distraction Attack moves, the attack does not need to be declared outright. However, in classical logic, something you only imply can’t be considered a fallacy, it must be stated. This mismatch is an example of why, when I point out logical fallacies, I say they are “related” to the category. For this book, implications matter because, in the real world, they have real intentions and effects.
History: In the 1800’s, these Latin terms came to be used in the sense of attack. However, the older philosophical tradition, beginning with Aristotle, used these terms for irrelevant conclusions (Ignoratio Elenchi). I cover those in the Shell Game chapter.
For a dive into this history, see the article by David Hitchcock of McMaster University, “Why there is no argumentum ad hominem fallacy,” Rozenberg Quarterly
http://rozenbergquarterly.com/issa-proceedings-2006-why-there-is-no-argumentum-ad-hominem-fallacy/
Related Moves and Fallacies
Fallacy of Irrelevance
These moves fall under the general category of Fallacies of Irrelevance (from classical logic) because the attack on you or your source is irrelevant.
Genetic Fallacy
This subcategory of Fallacies of Irrelevance, the Genetic Fallacy, applies to moves that attack you or your source. The word genetic means source.
Wikipedia says the Genetic Fallacy, “is based solely on someone’s or something’s history, origin, or source…” and first appeared in 1926. This is also known as the fallacy of origins or the fallacy of virtue.
Moralistic Attack
People love to beef up their attacks with moralism which, by definition involves a Less than Logic move of Authority Imposed or Tradition Imposed. The castigator is a channel of divine judgement. But how God got into his opinions, I’ll never know.
Shell Games: Whataboutism
These attacks can operate like the Shell Game move of Whataboutism that we see later. They change the subject from the topic at hand in a judgmental way, except that Whataboutism tries to overwhelm you with multiple distractions all at once.
Direct Interference
These moves also work well in the Direct Interference category, because they jam your circuits by unexpectedly putting you on the defensive in the form of the Interruption or Thought Stopper moves. The Thought Stopper affords your antagonist the luxury of thought-cancellation, so he doesn’t have to think about the rational thing that you just said.
Proof by Assertion, or Proof by Repeated Assertion
Proof by assertion is to state something as if it’s true, but with no basis. Just saying it is so makes it so. Repetition is often used to make it more “real.”
In this category, the epitome of proof by assertion is the “It’s Obvious” move.
The category that most characterizes proof by assertion is Lies. Next closest is Less than Logic that, one way or another, imposes beliefs.
Note on Terminology and Its History
Many terms from classical logic such as ad personam attack get varying definitions, partly because they have shifted in meaning over time. Don’t depend on this text for the final word on classical logic terminology or concepts. This is why I refer to many of the terms as “related.” There is not necessarily a perfect match that an academic would approve.
♘ FOR DISTRACTION ATTACK MOVES
The Personal Attack
Formal Names
Ad personam (Toward the person)
Ad hominem (Toward the man)
Attack the Source
Related Fallacy
Genetic fallacy, also known as the fallacy of origin or fallacy of virtue
Related Fallacy Category
Fallacy of irrelevance
Related Moves
Attack by Category
Personal Attack
Hasty Generalization
Related Concepts
“Fake news!”
Attack by Category: You Can’t Trust Them.
Formal Names
Genetic fallacy, also known as the fallacy of origin or fallacy of virtue
Related Moves
Attack the Source
Personal Attack
Hasty Generalization
Origin
Morris Raphael Cohen and Ernest Nagel in 1934.
Guilt by Association
Related Move
Gross Generalization
Related Terms, Concepts
A person is “radioactive”
Attack the Veracity
Formal Name
Impeaching the witness (in law)
Attack Motive: Your Circumstances Bias Your Opinion.
Latin Name
Ex Concessis Attack (from what has been conceded, in other words, in view of what has already been accepted): This is a circumstantial ad hominem attack, meaning using circumstances (such as nationality) to attach the source.
Related Terms, Concepts
Conflict of interest, self-interest, self-dealing
Compromised
Biased
Accusation of Hypocrisy: You Can’t Say That.
Also Known As
The hypocrite attack
Latin Name
Tu quoque fallacy (TOO kwoh KWAY) (You too.) This is a type of ad hominem attack.
Alleging Contradiction
Latin Name
Ex concessis attack (from what has been conceded, or in view of what has already been accepted): A circumstantial ad hominem attack.
This term also applies to the Accusation of Hypocrisy move, above. It applies here because the contradictory past position is another form of concession (a fact accepted in the discussion).
Force Fit: Agree with This.
Related Fallacy
Circumstantial ad hominem fallacy
Smear Tactic: Ruin Their Reputation
Related Names
Smear campaign
Poisoning the well
Related Move
Smear Tactic
The Exposure Frame
Related Concept
The Audience Effect: Our performance is affected by whether we have an audience. This can improve or harm our performance, depending on the circumstances. The Exposure Frame can be set up to bring out behavior that is more appropriate or to impair performance. (Hamilton and Lind, Audience Effect)
Related Words
Negative: Performance anxiety, self-consciousness, glitching, freezing, embarrassment, choking (esp. sports), stage fright, any terms related to anxiety or panic.
Glossophobia: fear aroused by being watched or judged by others.
Positive: Clutch moment, clutch player (in sports), rising to the moment or challenge, stepping up, any terms related to inspiration or being galvanized.
Push Poll: The Trojan Horse of Propaganda
Related Names
Rumor-mongering
Smear campaign
Negative campaigning
Related Moves
This is a type of Loaded Question move.
Smear Tactic
It’s Obvious!
Related Move
It is a form of Thought Stopper
I see it as composed of the Personal Attack, Force Fit, Popularity Makes Right, and Authority Imposed (as explained in the move’s section).
Related Concept
A blurt
That’s Ridiculous!
Related Latin Name
Argumentum ad lapidem (appeal to the stone)
Related Formal Name and History
Appeal to the stone: A philosopher named George Berkeley (Bishop Berkeley) is famous for developing the philosophy of immaterialism, which contends that things do not exist outside of our minds. This must explain why Rudy Giuliani tried so hard to keep a Department of Justice subpoena from getting anywhere near him.
Samuel Johnson, a major English writer, objected to this philosophy. He kicked a large stone, saying, “I refute him thus!” It works for me, but philosophy says Johnson failed to disprove Berkeley; his gesture only dismissed the argument. But at least we got a logical fallacy named after the incident.
Related Fallacy
Proof by assertion, also known as proof by repeated assertion
3. Less than Logic:
Belief Imposed (Ch. 4)
Less than Logic takes a position with no logical steps to get there. Some effort may be made to appear logical.
In this, the third level of oppression, the trickster materializes a belief out of the blue. This makes the conclusions even more magical and illogical than those of Sloppy Logic. The oppressiveness lies in the attempt to force a baseless belief on you while conjuring an illusion of logic.
Related Formal Names
Proof by assertion: All the moves in this category are related to the fallacy of proof by assertion, in which the headbanger baselessly claims something is true, and keeps finding ways to repeat it instead of responding in a sane way to contrary evidence or thinking.
Other names for proof by assertion: Argument by assertion, proof by repeated assertion.
Related Concepts
Motivated Reasoning: In this chapter, I discussed the Baffled Offense and how people unconsciously react to form illogical responses such as a bizarre misunderstanding of what you were saying. I referred to it as unconscious orchestration. For a scholarly understanding, study motivated reasoning in the field of political neuroscience.
Impressionistically jumping to conclusions draws on our intuitive thinking. Overreliance on intuition results in serious errors. It must be balanced with reasoning that weighs probabilities. This is called cold or Bayesian reasoning or logic.
Related Latin Name
Argumentum ad nauseam: The nauseater repeats a baseless assertion until his victim gives up in disgust, hurrying off to the vomitorium.
Plurium interrogationum (of many questions) applies to the Loaded Question
Related Moves
“It’s Obvious” from the Distraction Attack category
Quantity: Overwhelming the Adversary (the Gish Gallop) from the Direct Interference category. This move is similar, but the main intention of the Gish Gallop is on overrunning the discussion with untruths that are not necessarily dedicated to taking a focused position or point.
Firehose of Falsehood (Flooding the Zone) The difference is that this is planting lies in a campaign to create confusion and distrust of information sources.
♘ FOR LESS THAN LOGIC MOVES
Out of the Blue
Related Fallacy
Proof by assertion or argument by assertion
Latin Term
Argumentum ad nauseam
Related Terms, Concepts
Reid technique (when applied with repetition and other elements)
Slogan, talking points, old chestnut, truism
Common sense, truth, the unassailable truth, my reality, my truth
Related Move
The Big Lie
The Reality Shotgun
Related Moves
The Gish Gallop, Hash, FUD Campaign, Well-Orchestrated Lie
Related Concepts, Behaviors
Pretend-answer
Distraction, change of subject
Dismiss, denigrate, erase you
Related Moves
Distraction Attack
Thought Stopper
Shell Game
The Loaded Question
Formal Name
Complex question
Related Concepts
Hidden statement or accusation
Priming
Variation Moves
Push Poll
Implying Opposing Answers
Cliché: “When will the…”
Just Asking Questions (JAQing off)
Fake Expertise Move
Formal Name
Ultracrepidarianism: This word for fake expertise comes from an ancient Greek story about an artist named Apelles. A cobbler criticized the way he rendered a sandal in one of his paintings. Apelles accepted his criticism. However, when the cobbler went on to criticize other things about the painting, Apelles rejected it, saying “Shoemaker, not above the sandal.” (Sutor, ne ultra crepidam). Apelles felt the shoemaker had exceeded his expertise.
Related Words or Concepts
In over his head
Out of her depth
Going out of his lane, “Stay in your lane”
Industry shill
Fake expert, fauxpertise
Wannabe expert
Rodeo clown (author’s term)
In her own private Idaho
Tapeworm research
Dunning—Kruger Effect: Too incompetent to even know that he’s incompetent
Forced Choice Move
Formal Names
Forced choice, False choice
False dilemma, False dichotomy
Either/or fallacy, False binary
Limited choice
Related Concepts
Polarization
Herding
Avoidance, evasion
Variation Move
“You’re either with us, or against us.”
Tradition Imposed Move
Formal Name
Appeal to tradition
Latin Names
Argumentum ad Traditionem
Argumentum ad Antiquitatem
Related Words or Concepts
Orthodox, orthodoxy
Doctrine, doctrinaire
Traditionalism, traditionalist
Conforming, conformist
Conventional, bound by tradition, stuck in their ways, mired in the past, stuck in a rut, established ways, establishmentarian
Dogmatic
Popularity Makes Right Move
Formal Names
Appeal to Common Belief
Appeal to the Masses
Latin Name
Argumentum ad Populum (Argument to the People)
Authority Imposed Move
Related Formal and Latin Names
Appeal to improper authority (Latin: Argumentum ad verecundium, meaning “argument from that which is improper.”)
Appeal to heaven (Latin: Deus vult.) Used when the authority referenced is one or more gods. When the word “abomination” is used, it’s in play.
Appeal to Nature (Latin: Argumentum ad naturam), also known as the naturalistic fallacy. It imposes the idea that something is good because it is natural or somehow aligned with nature or nature’s “will.” Also, it assumes something is bad because it somehow goes against nature. But the word “unnatural” is a special case because it’s a code word for violating God’s will.
Related Concepts
Manifest destiny: the special covenant used to justify national expansion and genocide.
Gott mit uns (God is with us), a widely used phrase that includes use as a war cry during the Thirty Years War, which involved at least 4.5 million casualties (according to Quentin Outram in the journal Medical History in 2001).
Arguments from ethos: a broader category of logical fallacies
Magical thinking
Job’s comforter fallacy: God is punishing someone for a sin.
The Baffled Offense
Related Fallacies
Argument from incredulity
Argument from astonishment
Appeal to common sense
These names reflect the fallacious attitude, usually unspoken, that if I can’t understand something, then it can’t be true.
Related Informal Fallacies
The black swan fallacy: I’ve never seen such a thing; therefore, it can’t be. (All swans are white.
The toupee fallacy: I’ve never noticed one, so there are none. (There are no realistic toupees because I’ve never noticed one. Truth is, I never noticed any because they were so realistic.)
The appeal to mystery: No need to think. Passing something off with, “It’s a mystery,” is a Thought Stopper move. It allows you to avoid questioning a superstition or to avoid investigating a reality.
All or Nothing at All
Informal Term
The Asteroid
Would Have Been, IF
Related Formal Names
Hypothesis contrary to fact
Speculative fallacy
Latin Name
Argumentum ad speculum (Argument from speculation)
Fake Urgency
Related Move, Category
Emotional Manipulation
Shell Game
Related Concepts
Ulterior motive
Rushing you into something
Pressuring you
Fake Action: We’re Looking at That.
Formal Related Names
Delay tactic, obstructionism, filibuster, avoidance, busywork
Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy
Related Concepts
Self-glorification, taking false credit
Level 4. Language Tricks:
Reality Assaulted (Ch 5)
Language Tricks change the meaning of words to create logical sounding, but inane support for a position.
Related Formal Name
Ambiguity fallacies: These moves take advantage of ambiguity in words or phrases.
How This Category is More Primitive
The first category, “Sloppy Logic,” involved jumping to conclusions in a way that involved weak logic. The second category, “Less than Logic,” materialized a belief out of the blue. This category, “Language Tricks,” merely manipulates word meanings and is, thus, even more primitive and unhinged from reality.
♘ FOR LANGUAGE TRICKS MOVES
Word Play
Formal Name
Equivocation
Popular Name
Doublespeak (From George Orwell’s book 1984.)
Jargon: Abusing professional language to support a position.
Gobbledygook or gibberish: Convoluted or meaningless language
Euphemism
Related Concepts
Trying not to put a fine point on it.
Softening the language, using substitute words
Dancing around the point, subject. Beating around the bush.
Hifalutin Language
Other Words
Let’s go from the simplest to the more colorful.
Adjectives
Exaggerated, overstated, glorified
Grandiose, pretentious, hyperbolic
Embroidered, embellished
Extravagant, ostentatious, overblown
Inflated, puffed up, bloated, swollen
Hifalutin, pompous, vainglorious, vain, conceited
Nouns
Inflation, aggrandizement, grandiosity
Pretentiousness, glorification, puffery
Posturing, ostentation
Hyperbole, embellishment, vainglory
Pretense, conceit, hubris, vanity
Bull, posturing, overstatement, balderdash
Fanfaronade, grandiloquence, magniloquence, altiloquence
Grammar Play
Formal Word
Amphiboly, from the Greek word “indeterminate.”
Glittering Generality
Other Name
Glowing generality
Words
Words to draw from for describing the puffed-up language that constitute glittering generalities, grouped
Inflation, inflated
Overstatement, exaggerated, exaggeration
Overstated, overstatement
Embroidered, embellished, embellishment
Overblown, bloated, puffed up
Bull, balderdash
Aggrandizement, grandiosity, grandiose
Hyperbolic, hyperbole
Glorification, conceit, pretense, pretentious, pretentiousness
Puffery, posturing, ostentation, fancy pants, hifalutin, vainglory
Pompous, hubris, vanity, swollen
Posturing, ostentation, vaunt
Extravagant
Steampunk Words
So quaint. Should we resuscitate some of them?
Fanfaronade: Someone who constantly brags or boasts. Empty, self-assertive boasting. Foolish or empty talk
Original meaning: A short ceremonial tune or flourish played on brass instruments, typically to introduce something or someone important.
Rodomontade (or Rhodomantade): Acting pretentious. Boasting excessively, especially empty boasts. Came from a character in Medieval literature.
Grandiloquence: Insincere or meaningless talk intended to impress, pretentiousness. Boastful statements. Other meanings: Fluent or persuasive communication. Trivial, excessive talkativeness.
Magniloquence: Fluent, persuasive, pretentious
Cockalorum: A boastful, self-important person. Boastful communications. Other meaning: Farm fowl
Swanking: Showing off, drawing attention boastfully. Being ostentatious. Walking pretentiously. To disdainfully spurn someone or something. Overdone prideful, self-satisfied talking.
Turgid: Boring, pretentious, excessive words used. Original meaning: Swollen
Gasconader, Gasconade, Gascon: Boastful person, Excessive talker.
Current meaning of Gascon: Someone from Gascony in the southwest of France, the birthplace of d’Artagnan, the fourth Musketeer. The Gascons had a reputation for boastfulness.
Orotund, orotundity: Excessive words used.
Euphuism: Language that goes far out of its way to be elaborate, to the point of artificiality. Not straightforward or literal.
Altiloquence: Language that tries to sound very high-class but doesn’t hold much meaning. A poor attempt to impress with language.
Balderdash: Communication that makes no sense. Language that tries to sound very high-class but doesn’t hold much meaning. A poor attempt to impress with language.
Dreadful Generality
Words, Grouped
Evil, fiendish, depraved, sinister, wicked, shady, sinful, nefarious
Dismal, nasty, bad, dark, gloomy, wrong
Terrible, awful, dreadful, atrocious, appalling
A Steampunk Word
Jeremiad: A lengthy speech or writing bitterly lamenting the downfall of society and morality. A statement that one is dissatisfied with something.
Original meaning: Poem or music intended in memoriam to the deceased.
Scare Quotes and Sneer-Saying
Related Concepts
Delegitimization
Scorn, sarcasm, put down, mockery
Stealing Meaning
Related Concepts
Cooptation, borrowing
Misrepresentation
Sleazy
Forcing Definitions
Similar to Stealing Meaning above.
Thingification
Formal Names
Reification
The Fallacy of misplaced concreteness
Concretism
Hypostatization
Etymology of Reification
From Latin roots to mean “thingification” or “making into a thing.”
Related Terms
Anthropomorphization: Giving something human qualities or motivations.
Deification: Converting something or someone into a god.
5. Lies:
Details Imposed (Ch. 6)
Lies, through commission or omission, through intention or error, state falsehoods.
This category takes us beyond playing tricks with language to attack the factual basis upon which dialog and problem solving rely.
Formal Name
Fallacy of questionable premise: The premise is untrue or only partly true. It could be based on a lie or a misunderstanding.
Fine-Tuned Names for Lies
When you call out a lie, these synonyms may help you fine-tune your language.
Misinformation: Erroneous, as in, “They are misinformed.”
Disinformation: Intentionally misleading for a purpose, as in, “That was propaganda.”
The End Justifies the Means: When a person feels he can justify lying because the outcome is too important to risk it when truth-telling might get in the way.
Perjury: A legal concept, lying under oath.
Conceit: Often pertains to a lie or unlikely plot element that drives a story. May be used for the lie beneath a political narrative. Outside of literary analysis, though, it means a self-aggrandizing delusion or pretense.
Canard: A false story, report, or rumor such as a conspiracy theory. An old canard has been going around for a long time despite having been repeatedly debunked.
Sham: Usually applies to a situation falsely represented such as a sham marriage done to get someone a visa or hide someone’s same-sex attraction.
More: Misrepresentation, untruth, falsehood
fiction, fabrication, invention
♘ FOR LIES MOVES
On-Purpose Lies
Nothing to add here.
Noble Cause Corruption
Related Terms
Tampering with evidence, prosecutorial misconduct
Guilt by omission: Applied in 2017 by writer Emily Bazelon to the problem of prosecutors withholding evidence of innocence, resulting in convictions of innocent people.
False or Misrepresented Source
Related Move
Fake Expertise: Plenty of info there.
Related Formal Term
False attribution Contextomy: Quoting out of context The Matthew effect: The tendency to attribute a quotation from a lesser-known or anonymous source to a more famous person to give it greater importance.
The Big Lie
A variation of lie notable for its audacity.
The Straw Man Argument
Related Move and Category
Distraction Attack (category)
Smear Tactic (move)
Reframing Falsely
Related Move
The Reality Shotgun
Related Words or Phrases
Redefine
Reevaluate or reassess
Portray or characterize differently
Change the significance or meaning of
View, look at, regard, or perceive differently
Change perspective or perception of
See from a different viewpoint, standpoint, or angle
The Manufactroversy
Other Names
Nontroversy
Molehill mountaineering (making a huge thing out of something small)
Related Moves
Smear Campaign
Swift Boating (a type of Smear Campaign)
Related Concepts
Teach the controversy
Demand for balanced reporting
Cancel culture
Sealing In the Rottenness
Just a more complex way to lie, hiding a central lie in layers of more lies or half-truths.
Lying with Statistics
Related Moves
Fake Expertise
Hash
False or Misrepresented Source
Gross Generalization
Related Concepts
Statistical significance
Sample size, N
Peer reviewed journal
Lysenkoism under Stalinist Russia
The Firehose of Falsehood
Related Move
FUD Campaign
Related Concept
Filling the zone with shit (thank you Steve Bannon)
Well-Orchestrated Lies
- - Variations - -
Astroturfing
Related Concepts
Front organization, impersonation
Sybil attack / fake online identities
Catbirding, leading down the garden path
FUD Campaigns
Related Concepts
“Flood the zone with shit” (as coined by Steve Bannon, Republican strategist), or zone-flooding
disinformation
industry shills
firehose of falsehoods
Related Moves
The Gish Gallop is to a debate more or less what the FUD is to a larger campaign.
The Bucket Brigade: Grooming for Hate
Related Concepts
Radicalizing
The slow red pill
Grooming
Filtering
6. Suppression:
Omission Coerced (Ch. 7)
“When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.”
— Yevgeny Yevtushenko
The speaker directly suppresses the truth.
Even more barbaric than lying, the manipulator actively suppresses the truth. A lie is like putting Salmonella into the water supply, while suppressing the truth is like blowing up the hospital where the sickened people need to be treated.
Related Formal Name
Fallacy of omission
Fine-Tuned Names of Lies by Omission
When you confront suppression, some of these words may help you dial in your phrasing.
Ulterior motive, pretense
Hidden, withheld, obscured, undisclosed
Hushed up, covered up, cover-up (noun), buried, bury
Kept out of sight, covert, secret, concealed
Unseen, veiled, clandestine
Crypto-(noun) e.g., “crypto-fascist” (rare)
Words Related to Interfering
These grouped interference-related words are useful
Deter, hinder, impede, challenge
Restrict, restrain, limit, constrain, curb, rein in
Thwart, disincentivize, jam, oppose
Prevent, place obstacles, obstruct, stop, block, blockade, bar
♘ FOR SUPPRESSION MOVES
Stacking the Deck (Omission)
Related Fallacies
Cherry picking or the eclectic fallacy: Selecting only evidence that supports your position, even though there is important counterevidence.
Hasty generalization: Bounding over exceptions to treat a generalization as if it applies in all cases.
Force Cancellation
This is another one that is a more modern concept
Related Concepts
Reframing
Cancellation (scientific, as in sound cancellation)
7. The Shell Game:
Discourse Swindled (Ch. 8)
The Shell Game distracts you and throws you off the subject. This enables manipulators to divert time into their topics or derail topics they can’t handle. Done right, they pull you off the topic before you fully realize what happened. Now we are getting into another level of interference with your ability to function or communicate. Level 6 was about suppressing truth, but now we’re getting into suppressing you more directly.
Formal Name
Red herring: This name comes from a trick used to challenge hounds as they track foxes in hunting events. A red herring would be dragged across the path, leaving a distracting scent.
Informal Names
Misdirection
Clouding the issue, missing the point
The Chewbacca defense: This comes from South Park, a cartoon satire series. It lampooned the O.J. Simpson murder trial defense with a ridiculous spiel they dubbed the Chewbacca defense. (From the “Chef Aid” episode, 1998.)
The segment, alternate links (video)
https://www.southpark.lat/en/video-clips/y4lavz/south-park-the-chewbacca-defense
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Em8BkZYnI
♘ FOR SHELL GAME MOVES
Beside the Point
Formal Name
Irrelevant conclusion
Latin Name
Ignoratio elenchi (ignoring refutation). Also applies to the Catbird Argument move.
Whataboutism
Related Moves
The Distraction Attack: You could argue that this move belongs in that category, but I placed it here because of the competing issues that are brought forth.
Slippery Slope
Gish Gallop
Set Points: Moving the Center Rightward
8. Emotional Manipulation:
Rationality Destroyed (Ch 9)
The speaker moves people with raw emotion, blinding them to logic.
Now things are getting scary. There could be violence. We are getting into the high end of the oppression categories, especially when it us used to rouse masses of people to violence.
Formal Name
Appeal to emotion
Latin Name
Argumentum ad passiones (argument from passion)
Related Moves
The Shell Game or the red herring, because emotion draws people away from a sober analysis.
Related Words: Feelings Weaponized
This is especially useful for describing Emotion Porn moves. I’m including these because they are categories often appealed to in emotional manipulation. Also, there are many synonyms and shades of meaning here that you may find useful in addressing the problem of emotional manipulation.
Fighting Against Threats
Ethno-nationalism: Umbrella term that white nationalism falls under.
Leaders have framed the out-group as a threat. The populace is in the mood to fight.
Fighting for what’s ours
Protecting our heritage, Western culture
Medieval chivalry tropes: The calling to defend family, neighborhood, way of life and so forth.
Calling the police on suspicious people (suspicious meaning existing while Black)
Tooling up, gearing up (arming themselves for an anticipated fight against oppressive forces)
Immigrants refusing to assimilate, speaking languages other than English
Fighting “reverse discrimination”
Fighting “political correctness,” “cancel culture,” “sensitivity training”
Holding events at locations and on dates related to historical anti-minority events constitutes a dog whistle to supremacists.
Extremist Language and Slogans
Below is extremist language used as part of a culture of white supremacy.
Fighting white genocide
Fostering white power and white pride
Referring to out-groups as vermin, cockroaches, etc.
Referring to minority protesters as anarchists, criminals, hordes, etc.
The 14 Words: We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.
Memes such as this: Diversity = White Genocide
Loss of Social Position
Because of the perception that minorities are getting attention and intruding on their territory and dominance, the population feels a loss of social status. They may feel that their community is being degraded culturally, in terms of crime, or loss of property value. They may have been displaced from their hometown by unemployment. Seeing minority individuals prospering fuels the bitterness of majority members.
Lowered, lessened, decreased, humbled
Demeaned, condescended to
Degraded, debased
Contaminated, defiled
Invaded, pushed out
Replaced (As in “You will not replace us!” protest signs.) Displaced
Relegated, discarded, renounced
Sacrificed, undercut
Aggrieved
Politicians want to show people that they understand their grievances. Bill Clinton said, “I feel your pain.” For more impact, they may work to inflame those feelings and use them. Grievances may be from economic losses and feeling that no one is listening.
Grievance (noun)
Wronged, victimized, ill-treated, abused
Conspiracy
Keywords related to conspiracy theories that tie into and redirect the feelings of betrayal and abandonment. These change with the times.
The Illuminati, the Rothschilds, bankers, the World Bank
Greedy Jews in charge of leftist media, Hollywood, secret plots
Welfare to minorities (Outdated: Welfare queens)
Immigrants getting lots of free benefits just for coming here.
Q conspiracies
Sharia law: What they claim Muslims would impose on everyone instead of assimilating, but Christian theocracy is just fine)
Neglected and Abandoned
Because no help was forthcoming (such as job creation), the population may feel neglected and abandoned.
Forsaken, deserted
Deprived, dispossessed
Cast off, dumped, left behind
Made redundant, made unimportant
Thrown away, disposed of, disowned, cast off
Ignored, abandoned
Snubbed, disregarded, overlooked
Given up on, no longer useful
Broken, lost, becoming a loser
Introjection: Taking on a self-concept from an outside influence such as “I’m a loser.”
Betrayed
Constituents may feel that the social contract has been broken, as when a factory closes with no warning and their pensions evaporate along with it.
Betrayed, violated
Absconded (as in the wealthy absconding with the profits, moving the factory to another country)
Left high and dry
Taken advantage of, shorted, robbed
Denied, stripped, screwed, f*cked over
Unrewarded, disappointed, bitter
Agitated
Inflammatory appeals to the population’s grievances agitate them.
Riled, provoked, aggravated, exasperated
Angered, inflamed, exercised (quaint), simmering anger
The Pain
Hurt, Wounded, Injured
Mistreated, Maltreated
Put out
Persecuted
Offended
Vexed, Irked, Irritated, Incensed
Pained, Afflicted, Troubled
Triggers
I present a quick survey of fear triggers that have scarred the American political and emotional landscapes:
Foreigners (Xenophobia)
Fear the Muslims for they shall not blend in, and they’ll impose Sharia Law. That would get in the way of Christian theocracy!
Fear the Mexicans for they are invading, raping, and bringing in the cartels. I thought it was banks did that.
Fear the minorities for we must make sure, as the White supremacists chant, “You will not replace us!”
Secularism and Diversity
Fear the gays for they have a Gay Agenda. It has something to do with turning your children gay.
Fear the liberals, for they are conducting a War Against Christianity, Christmas, God in the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer in schools, and so much more.
Women’s Bodies
Fear the women, for they would control their own bodies, reject your definition of womanliness, and decide when to have children. Which is worse, all that or their talking back?
Especially fear the Black women with nice things, like a Mercedes, for only sin could produce Black opulence. Search the car!
“Liberal” Media
Fear the media that fail to support the strongman, as it’s fake news scheming to turn us into sheeple.
Democrats
Fear the Dems, they’re coming to defile your religion, take your guns, redistribute your hard-earned money, drain the Treasury into minorities, and open the gates to vengeful hordes coming for your suburbs. Then they’ll make you wear a surgical mask and inject you with a Satanic chip and nanobots that are surely up to no good.
♘ FOR EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION MOVES
Dog Whistle: Coded for the Base
Related Concept
Coded speech or speaking in code
Fear-Mongering
Related Concepts
Secure base psychology
Moral panic
Outgroup, bogeyman
Triggering: Bringing out Their Worst
Terms Describing the Result
Rattled, jarred, thrown off, thrown off balance
They yanked his chain, freaked her out, he lost his shit
Satire
Related Moves
Personal Attack: Satire in politics denigrates the other side, so it falls under the Personal Attack move. It can be a delicious part of a good attack. However, in rhetoric its raison d’etre is its emotional effect. That’s why it appears in this chapter.
It may be deployed as a fallacy of irrelevance but, despite appearances, it can be quite relevant, especially when it’s cerebral. Humorists have become sources of TV news for many people.
Related Words
Noun or verb: Spoof, parody, lampoon, caricature, send-up
Mockery, to mock, mock (adjective as in a mock speech)
Make fun of, poke fun at
Burlesque
Less Related Words
These words are more general in their meaning:
Noun or verb: Ridicule, scorn
Scornfulness, pour scorn on
Derision, deride, scoff at
Potential Ingredients of Satire
Wit, irony, sarcasm, jeering, jeer at, belittle, disparage
Emotion Porn
Like Fear-mongering, but with more range of possibilities.
Empathy Erasure
A systematic outcome of Fear-mongering and related moves
Made Ya Look!
Related Concepts
Using up all the oxygen.
Getting mind share.
Impression Monster
Related Concepts
Availability heuristic, a type of bias. Causes what we see in the news to seem more prevalent or likely to happen than it really is. Emotions can amplify the effect.
Innumeracy (math and statistical illiteracy)
Impressionistic speech
9. Direct Interference:
Functioning Disrupted (Ch 10)
The speaker directly interferes with your efforts to communicate. Tactics may be as simple as interruption or as esoteric as memory disruption. The moves may be used for immediate effect or serve to fatigue and confuse you over time, wearing you down.
The prior category, emotional manipulation overlaps with this category, because it can involve triggering and other means of interfering with your functioning. This, Level 9, is the second to last and is the first to be exclusively about such interference.
Related Category
Fallacies of relevance, which impose things that aren’t relevant to the truth and logic of the argument. They are things imposed as if they belong there, but don’t. They cause confusion or take us down the wrong track.
Related Concepts
Sabotage, interfere, disrupt
Incapacitate, impair, delay
Confuse, fatigue
Inhibit, constrain
Block, halt, stop, restrict
♘ FOR DIRECT INTERFERENCE MOVES
The Gish Gallop
Origin of the Name
The Gish Gallop is named after biochemist and creationist Duane Gish. He was a skilled debater who would throw out more points than the opposition could possibly respond to, many of them ludicrous. Eugenie Scott of the of the National Center for Science Education coined the term.
Related Moves and Categories
Firehose of Falsehood (Flooding the Zone)
Out of the Blue (category)
Lies (Baseless Assertions) Category
Reality Shotgun: Related, but the Gish Gallop is more about conveying a specific position.
Whataboutism
Hash
Other Names
The Hash
One-way hash argument
Confusion, muddle, hodge-podge, jumble
Blather, gobbledygook, drivel, twaddle, prattle
Chatter, babble, jabber, jammer, natter, nonsense
The Con
Mystification, mystify
Bewilderment, bewilder
Pretense, pretention, pretentious
Charade, sham
Affectation, posturing
Conceit, confection, confected
Related Move
This is a close cousin of the Gish Gallop.
Thought Stoppers
Other Names
Thought-terminating cliché
Semantic stop-sign
Bumper sticker logic
Clichéd thinking
Robert Jay Lifton coined the term thought-terminating cliché in 1961 in his book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. Much of the writing on this describes its use in totalitarian regimes, cults, and governments. He called thought-terminating speech “the language of non-thought” that sweeps away accountability by discounting anything or anyone it wishes.
A quote from Lifton:
“The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis.”
My sweetheart embroidered that on a throw pillow the other evening.
Related Moves
The following moves are really variations on this move but get special mention because they are so commonplace.
The Escape Hatch
The Gotcha Question Defense
Escape Hatch
Related Move
The Thought Stopper
The Gotcha Question Defense
This is a variation on the Thought Stopper, but sometimes it’s a fair criticism.
Interruption
Related Concept
Heckler
You’re Being X
Related Concept
Accusation
Trolling
Related Move
Triggering
Related Words
Molesting, abusing, insulting
Exploiting, disrupting
Lulz (an internet troll’s sadistic fun), troll farm, bot
The Snake Charmer
Related Category
Hypnotics
Memory Blocking: Thwarting Long-Term Retention
Related Concept
Interference (psychology)
Emotional memory, latent memory
Desensitization, memory consolidation, reprocessing
Algorithms: Destroying Human Accountability
Related Concepts
Discrimination
Ranking of content, spreading harmful content
Using AI to detect hate speech proactively
10. Threats and Violence:
Oppression Maxed (Ch. 11)
The essence of the threat is coercion—and of violence, neutralization. Level 10 is the final level, unless you consider the meta-level that I ascribe to the Neuro-Rhetoric chapter.
Formal Name
The appeal to force.
Related Fallacies, Latin Name
Argumentum Ad Baculum (“argument to the cudgel” or “appeal to the stick”)
Informal Name
Might makes right. The first commonly quoted use of “might makes right” in English was in 1846 by the American pacifist and abolitionist Adin Ballou (1803–1890), who wrote, “But now, instead of discussion and argument, brute force rises up to the rescue of discomfited error, and crushes truth and right into the dust. ‘Might makes right,’ and hoary folly totters on in her mad career escorted by armies and navies.” (Christian Non-Resistance: In All Its Important Bearings, Illustrated and Defended, 1846.)
Related Moves
The unconscious influence tactics such as the Hypnotics moves from the Neuro-Rhetoric pieces could be considered coercive because they bypass our critical filters.
You could say that creating political platforms and speech that appeal to people that have impaired critical thinking is the moral equivalent.
To a degree, it’s coercive to manipulate people dishonestly in general. But once we get to the “Emotional Manipulation” chapter, we have crossed a line where the moves are especially coercive.
Related Concepts
Brushing up on these terms might provide you with some fresh language when you call out threats or a violent ideology.
Demagogue
Even if you’re clear on what this word means, this definition from Wikipedia is so well-worded and detailed yet concise, it’s worth a read:
“A demagogue or rabble-rouser is a leader who gains popularity in a democracy by exploiting emotions, prejudice, and ignorance to arouse some against others, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation. Demagogues overturn norms of political conduct or promise or threaten to do so.”
Tyrant
An absolute ruler unrestrained by law. A tyranny is that form of rule. Tyrannical is the adjective.
Related words: Dictator, autocrat, despot
Damnation
If you do not accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you will suffer an eternity of torment in a lake of fire. Extortion, right?
Social Darwinism (A Dog-Eat-Dog World)
Inspired by the theory of evolution, but not justified by it or in any way supported by Darwin, social Darwinism calls for less fit or cunning members of society to succeed or fail with no help from society.
That would take some serious voter suppression, redlining, gerrymandering, authoritarian police, mass imprisonment, out-of-reach health care, and control of the media by a small number of major corporations. I guess we’re safe.
Manifest Destiny
Remember manifest destiny from high school American history? It’s a chapter of social Darwinism. It ties power and righteousness, seeing the power as coming from superiority of civilization (advanced ways that must overcome for the sake of humanity’s progress) plus advancing the one true religion (God is on our side).
Might Makes Right
As a fallacy, this is the justification of actions based on power over others. America’s Manifest Destiny meant that God was in favor of the U.S. taking over Indian lands, which justified any use of force necessary.
Ableism
Whether it is conscious or not, articulated or not, believed or not, it can serve as an operating principle. Ableism says that less able people are less deserving of fundamental rights or care, or even that they deserve to be taken advantage of.
In Nazi Germany, many of the disabled were secretly removed from care facilities and were killed in the interest of conserving the resources of the state. Since the ableism could not be overt, relatives were told only that their disabled family members had been relocated to another facility.
Sociopaths don’t consciously adopt an ableist philosophy, they operate on it by default because they have no conscience.
Laissez Faire Economics, Deregulation, Union Busting
This philosophy makes a religion out of free market theory. Its purveyors ignore corporate excesses such as pollution, harmful products, discrimination, and preventable economic collapses, while dressing it all up in humanistic trappings such as “trickle-down theory.”
Pure Free Market
All these ideas synergize into a capitalist’s dog-eat-dog dream of an unregulated market summed up by Oliver Stone’s Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street:
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.”
Secure Base Attack
Fear-mongering makes people open to increasingly totalitarian measures through secure base psychology.
Related Words
More words to keep handy.
Excuses
Manifest destiny, moral superiority, national or group pride, patriotism
Cultural or Ideological
Chauvinism, machismo
Bigotry, jingoism
Dogmatism, fascism, terrorism, political violence
Crime-Based
Blackmail, bullying
General
Intimidation, threat
Vengeful Reputation
Coercion, pressure, blackmail, a shakedown
Retaliation, vengeance, to avenge, to get revenge
Payback, reprisal, retribution
To settle the score, even the score
Bargaining chip
Related Fallacy Category
Most of the language of threats and violence fall into fallacies of irrelevance because the ability to harm or overpower others has no relevance to the merits of their arguments.
Related Movie Tropes
Aww, c’mon, indulge me! I collected some classic movie quotes related to threats and violence:
“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” — The Godfather, 1972
“This town isn’t big enough for the two of us.” — Trope from old Westerns
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” — Apocalypse Now, 1979
“You can’t handle the truth!” — A Few Good Men, 1992
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges! We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” — The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948
“You have a beautiful daughter. It’d be a shame if something was to happen to her.” — A trope from only about a million movies.
“Say ‘hello’ to my little friend!” — Scarface, 1983
Neuro-Rhetoric,
Level: Meta
Priming
Related Words
Incitement, inciting, stirring, moved, moving
Playing with fire, point of no return, at the precipice
Inflammatory, inflaming, inflamed, on fire
Galvanized, steeled
Desensitization
Related Words, Concepts
Emotional charge
Targeting
Activation of a memory
Vulnerability to modification (memory)
Latent memory
Altering Memory Associations
Related Words, Concepts
Repetition, mental association, long-term potentiation, strengthening of associations
Synaptic connections
Memory hacking
Quicksand Moves
Related Concept
The tar baby effect: The tar baby is a metaphor from African-American folktales which pertains to a sticky problem that gets worse with struggle. It is best known from the Uncle Remus stories published in 1881. Abuse of the term has led people to avoid it lest they be misunderstood as racially insensitive. Politicians tend to avoid saying anything specific for fear of the tar baby effect. I use the term quicksand, especially to describe moves intended to make a smear stick to the victim even more when he tries to fight it.
The Power of Vagueness
Related Words
Vague, unclear, ambiguous
Hazy, fuzzy, blurred
Dreamy, nebulous,
Related Concepts
Veiled threat, confusion tactic, dog whistle
Politifact.com
Support for fact-checking, scorecards for politicians.
https://www.politifact.com/
The Marshall Project
Supporting journalists who work to overcome pressure against covering whistleblowers’ stories.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/
WhistleBlowers.org
An organization safeguarding whistleblowers and investigating governmental abuse.
https://www.whistleblowers.org/
Dr. Frederic Whitehurst
Learn about the life and work of Dr. Frederic Whitehurst (including his FBI lawsuit) at Whistleblowers.org.
https://www.whistleblowers.org/members/dr-frederic-whitehurst-whistleblower/
Outreach to Hate Group Members
Parents for Peace
This organization helps link families with ex-members of hate groups whose experience with these groups put them in a special position to communicate with the family member. This group has a hotline, site lists resources.
https://www.parents4peace.org/
Video about the group:
“Exiting Extremism”: Parents For Peace Help Hate Group Members Turn The Page | Hallie Jackson
MSNBC, Apr 16, 2021,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCDuOPuJ4MY
Scholarships
Heather Heyer Foundation
Heather Heyer, the activist killed by a White Nationalist’s act of terror is survived by her mother who, along with a very accomplished board, offers scholarships through the Heather Heyer Foundation.
https://www.heatherheyerfoundation.com/
Election Reform
FairVote.org
FairVote.org is a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections for all. We research and advance voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every American.
https://www.fairvote.org/
See “Further Reading and Resources,” especially Gehl and Porter’s book The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
Skepticism, Debunking Psychics
James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)
Randi’s webpage provides resource links and articles. The organization offers grants to “non-profit groups that we believe are promoting activities that encourage critical thinking and a fact-based world view.”
https://web.randi.org/
Some Items from the Author
Yourell.com
The author’s website.
http://www.Yourell.com
Trump’s Georgia Call, Color Coded
Color-coded Trumpspeak: An analysis of Trump’s lengthy call to Georgia officials trying to get them to throw the election. Zoom out and you’ll see a sort of heat map of how his strategies shift over time.
Starts with snippets plus explainers, then the full transcript color-coded. Funny, yet disturbing analysis of his deep technique.
http://www.yourell.com/blog/trump-color-coded-georgia
Mass Incarceration and its Costs to Society
Equal Justice Initiative
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
https://eji.org/
The Hidden Cost of Incarceration
Dec. 19, 2019, Nicole Lewis, Beatrix Lockwood, The Marshall Project
Mass Incarceration Costs $182 Billion Every Year, Without Adding Much to Public Safety
The Equal Justice Initiative, Feb. 6, 2017
https://eji.org/news/mass-incarceration-costs-182-billion-annually/
Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration
Emily Bazelon, 2020
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3at52zH
Algorithms and AI as Civil Rights Issues
FairTrials.org
Fair Trials is an international NGO that campaigns for fair and equal criminal justice systems.
Related publications by FairTrials.org
Criminal Justice by Algorithm Part I: Predictive Policing
Tuesday, 13 Oct 2020
https://www.fairtrials.org/criminal-justice-algorithm-part-i
Part II: Pre-trial detention, sentencing and probation
https://www.fairtrials.org/criminal-justice-algorithm-part-ii
Griff Ferriss
The author writes on the subject.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/g__ferris
Center for Humane Technology
www.HumaneTech.com
Non-profit works to align technology with the public good. Provides public education, support for technologists and tech leaders, and informing policymakers.
Political Interference with Science
Union of Concerned Scientists
Some of their resources list abuses of science. I list three below that cover time periods beginning from 2004. They describe malfeasance such as pressure to change the results of studies to pander to industry at the expense of our health.
Abuses of Science: Case Studies: Examples of political interference with government science documented by the UCS Scientific Integrity Program, 2004-2009
Union of Concerned Scientists, Aug. 4, 2014
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/abuses-science
Obama administration scientific integrity issues
Union of Concerned Scientists
Attacks on Science
Union of Concerned Scientists, Published Jan. 20, 2017, updated Aug. 13, 2021
Includes filters for agency and type of attack.
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/attacks-on-science
Government-Based Religious Discrimination
Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me: Why Governments Discriminate against Religious Minorities
Jonathan Fox, Cambridge University Press, March 12, 2020
The book, “examines the causes of government-based religious discrimination (GRD) against 771 minorities in 183 countries over twenty-five years.”
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3CyF8Y9
At Cambridge.org (access required)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/thou-shalt-have-no-other-gods-before-me/D6E81BE696A66494A28320D4480172DB#
Humor
George Carlin - Euphemisms
George Carlin’s bit on euphemisms is an extended example of using a list format in humor and rhetoric. (Trigger alert: Old-school, non-PC concepts included.)
https://youtu.be/vuEQixrBKCc?t=216
TylerVigen.com
Humorous abuses of statistics
http://www.TylerVigen.com
Paramilitary Policing
Rise of the Warrior Cop
Radley Balko
About police using the so-called no-knock warrants. The author is an investigative journalist.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3mMTtKY
How Police Became Paramilitaries
Michael Shank
At New York Review of Books
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/06/03/how-police-became-paramilitaries/
At George Mason University, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution
https://activity.scar.gmu.edu/articles/how-police-became-paramilitaries
Anxiety Help
Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy
Francine Shapiro, 2013
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2WECJuL
EMDR Toolbox: A Powerful Strategy of Self Through Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy
Brittany Forrester, 2020
Audible: https://amzn.to/2YfCbw9
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook
Edmund J. Bourne
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3mJsLmv
Water Issues
Superman’s Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It
Erin Brockovich, 2020
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3DznXpI
Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont
Robert Bilott, 2019
The story that inspired the major motion picture Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3kDqmqT
Election Reform
An Immodest Proposal from Gehl and Porter
There’s no shortage of proposals for how to fix politics, but I offer this one as a model. It is clear, outcome-focused, based on successful applications in other countries or situations, and has the potential of gaining support from powerful people. One of the incentives for this proposal is that businesspeople are getting sick of the cost of competing to buy votes. There’s much more to it, but I had to mention it.
Their book:
The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy
Katherine M. Gehl, Michael E. Porter, et al. (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020).
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3wwdlDF
Hardcover: https://amzn.to/3k4bvHd
They have various resources at their website:
GehlPorter.com
https://gehlporter.com/
Gehl offers resources on her website as well:
KatherineGehl.com
https://katherinegehl.com/key-issues/
Harvard Business School posted this detailed paper (PDF):
Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America: A strategy for reinvigorating our democracy
Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School, Sept. 2017
They talk about it on YouTube:
Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter: Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America
Commonwealth Club of California, April 2, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XlfKkmjqSo
Power
Who Rules the World?
Noam Chomsky
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2WEC4cn
The Craft of Power: The Fusion of Eastern Mysticism and Western Pragmatism — A Philosophical and Strategic Guide to the Uses of Power
R.G.H. Siu, 1984.
Free at the Internet Archive (commercial version is out of print). Very much based on historical events up to the 1980s.
https://archive.org/details/The_Craft_of_Power/mode/2up
Influence, Rhetoric
Influence and Pre-suasion, by Cialdini, are special books in this category.
Winning Minds: Secrets from the Language of Leadership
Simon Lancaster, 2015
This book is about persuasive rhetoric. The first chapter alone was worth the price of the book.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/38nrtp4
Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion
Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, Harper Business; Expanded ed., 2021
This book delves into influence techniques. It’s very readable and full of examples and principles.
“Robert Cialdini has done the impossible: he has improved a masterpiece. The new version of Influence is a marvelously rich and engaging account of the subtle power that people exert on each other.” — Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize laureate and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow and Noise
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3jsSz4g
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
Robert B. Cialdini, 2016
Also by Cialdini, this includes priming.
“The acclaimed New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller from Robert Cialdini—‘the foremost expert on effective persuasion’ (Harvard Business Review)—explains how it’s not necessarily the message itself that changes minds, but the key moment before you deliver that message.”
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3juDi2V
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know
Malcolm Gladwell, 1st edition, 2019
“Another Gladwell tour de force... intellectually stimulating... Readers expecting another everything-you-think-you-know-is-wrong page-turner will not be disappointed.” ― Kirkus Reviews
“Inspiring and motivating...Gladwell is a wunderkind and a saint...He takes on racial division, incompatible perspectives, and emotional dissonance without ever sounding preaching or proud. The stories make you think.” ― John Brandon, Daily Beast
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3t1A4XZ
Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Minds (Leadership for the Common Good)
Howard Gardner, 2006
Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner explains what happens while changing a mind—and offers ways to influence that process.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3gMqeEh
The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge
Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann, 2011
“In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction, effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.”
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2WzvRhZ
Red Pill: Radical History
A People’s History of the United States
Howard Zinn, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, reissue edition, 2015
Now updated, this classic has sold over two million copies. Tells the history you don’t learn about from mainstream sources.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2SZUHGm
Hardcover: https://amzn.to/2UFifAH
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
James W. Leowin, 2018
“Every teacher, every student of history, every citizen should read this book. It is both a refreshing antidote to what has passed for history in our educational system and a one-volume education in itself.” ― Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3AM6ol8
Hardcover: https://amzn.to/3hSMc8n
Political Perspectives: America in Crisis
America: What Went Wrong? The Crisis Deepens
Donald Bartlett and James B. Steele, 2020
The best, most famous, long-lived investigative journalism team of Bartlett and Steele have over four decades of experience documenting issues undermining Americans’ well-being. It was updated for 2020 and includes recommendations for action.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3AIYSHP
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3k2qT77
Predatory Leadership: Are Nations Getting the Governments They Deserve?
Chris Simms PhD
Dr. Chris Simms teaches at Dalhousie University, Faculty of Health, School of Health Administrations. He has contributed to international health on various boards including the International Journal of Clinical Practice.
This reader consists of articles drawn from publications that the author produced over the last 20 years. The focus is on healthcare inequities but describes a network of forces that coalesce into bad outcomes for the populations they affect.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2T0apkL
Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature, 1st Edition
A.J. Jongman, 2017
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3DujrJl
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3kAqHLa
What’s Wrong with America? How the Rich and Powerful Have Changed America and Now Want to Change the World
Jonathan Neale
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3t1hmzD
History: How America Got this Way
Washington’s Nightmare: A Brief History of American Political Parties
B. Scott Christmas
This book gets a lot of raves from being interesting but brief, considering the scope it takes on. The author has a degree in European History. Readers feel they gained a lot of insight.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3AQRQR0
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3xvVePp
The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam
Barbara Wertheim Tuchman
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Barbara W. Tuchman, author of the World War I masterpiece The Guns of August, grapples with her boldest subject: the pervasive presence, through the ages, of failure, mismanagement, and delusion in government. Readers say her work is engaging and suspenseful.
Kindle: Random House, 2011 (originally published in 1984)
https://amzn.to/36rANqR
Hardcover: Knopf; 1st edition, 1984
https://amzn.to/3hPZUZM
Who’s Running America?
Thomas Dye, 8th edition, 2015
Thomas R. Dye is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Florida State University. He was formerly McKenzie Professor of Government.
This book has been updated over decades, using statistics and other means to identify who is running the government and how. His model is described as oligarchical.
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3htzRsk
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3e5NQCB