SSC
Proving Too Much
Scott Alexander explores the 'Proving Too Much' fallacy as an efficient tactic to quickly dismantle complex arguments, particularly those using Dark Arts techniques.
5 min read 742 words
A thread through the archive
Dark Arts
Essays tagged “Dark Arts”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on Dark Arts
4 essaysLW
Blue- and Yellow-Tinted Choices
Scott explains how the brain judges values relatively rather than absolutely, using optical illusions as an analogy for cognitive biases in decision-making.
9 min read 1,359 words
LW
Defense Against The Dark Arts: Case Study #1
Scott identifies five logical fallacies in a popular anecdote about Steve Jobs rejecting Indian spirituality, arguing it succeeded through tribal appeal rather than logical merit, and uses it as a case study for why careful argument analysis must become automatic.
13 min read 1,992 words
LW
How to Not Lose an Argument
Scott argues that to persuade people rather than just demolish them, you should leave them a social line of retreat by being genuinely nice and not treating the discussion as a status contest.
13 min read 1,961 words