Outrageous Excuses 23

 

The president of South Korea says he tried to stage a coup in order to "send a message". (@PopulismUpdates)

Pro-Yoon legislators argued in the party meeting that the president declared martial law because he was "lonely" and "needed a friend to talk to." (@BluRoofPolitics)

Many otherwise smart people lose their minds when they hear arguments against eating meat. They say things like: eating meat is natural to our species; it's tradition; other animals eat meat too; it’s the purpose of animals to be eaten; animals don't feel pain. (@victorckumar. I'd add: Plants scream when you pick them. We are omnivores - we have canine teeth. If we didn't eat meat many cattle and sheep would never exist and that's as bad as killing them. Vegetarians look so pale and sickly. How do they get enough protein? Or Vitamin B?)

The US worried that maternal mortality had risen. It turned out to be an artefact of a change in the way data was gathered. Christopher M. Zahn, interim CEO of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, responded: “reducing the U.S. maternal mortality crisis to ‘overestimation’” is “irresponsible”. Why? Because it “undermined... all the hard work of health care professionals, policy makers, patient advocates, and other stakeholders”. Noahpinion.blog continues: This is absolutely breathtaking, and not in a good way. One of the most prominent doctors in the field of obstetrics is openly arguing that positive data about U.S. health should be suppressed, and that popular misconceptions based entirely on data artifacts should be encouraged to persist, in order to motivate the public to devote more resources to the goals he thinks are important. (Americans are big on motivation.)

Telegraph: 'Heathrow officials responding to a complaint about security staff wearing Palestine flag badges claimed that employees wore them to let travellers know they spoke Arabic.' I'm not buying this. (@GillianLazarus)

Merriam-Webster asked what grammar hill tweeps would die on and then deleted all answers reading “Woman: adult human female” before closing the account. Excuse: “We let an intern run our socmed account.”

The almost-nude man painted blue in the Olympics opening ceremony was An "interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus" to make us "aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings".

Bullfighting preserves Spain’s biodiversity.

Billionaire socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein who has been dubbed ‘Catwoman’ shows off her new face, despite denying extensive plastic surgery and claiming her looks are down to her ‘Swiss Heritage.’ (@OliLondonTV)

Rioters’ defence lines so far:
My client has had a difficult home life
My client suffers from long term addictions
My client has a long running problem with alcohol
My client has mental health problems
My client understands he has been 'foolish'


TRUTH IS NOT IMPORTANT BECAUSE...*

In life it’s important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.

Nobody ever changes their mind as a result of argument or disconfirming evidence.

On attrappe pas les mouches avec le vinaigre.

You can’t put out a fire with gasoline.

Fools give you reasons; wise men never try.

Reason is important, but it's not the be all and end all.

No reply is best.

No point telling people they’re wrong, they’ll never listen or change their minds.

Just ignore them.

Adversarial argument never uncovered the truth. (Popular in the 80s.)

Legislation can’t change minds. (But it does. Conversely some people haven’t noticed changes in law that took place 200 years ago.)

Argument never changes minds. (Your interlocutor may go away and think about it – and change their mind.)

Don’t oppose them, it only encourages them.

People never change their minds – except sometimes they flip. An anti-gay marriage campaigner is now for it, an anti-Muslim campaigner spent so much time debating with missionary Muslims in Bradford markets that he converted. Also if people never change their minds why bother propagandising them?

Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done. (Katherine Maher)

We spend a lot of time taking down alleged arguments that are no more coherent than "my favourite colour is pancakes." This must stop. People say stupid, wrong things to us to soak up our time, not because they even believe what they are saying. (@stuartlosaltos)

Don’t waste your time with explanations; people only hear what they want to hear. (Paulo Coelho)

We need to stop trying to be tolerant of intolerance. So many people talk about "you have to have a calm discussion to change their minds". No. There’s no reasoning with racism. We need to make it socially taboo and embarrassing, strong peer pressure is more effective. (@AmusedApricot)

Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. (Mark Twain)

The idea that there is no objective truth or that we shouldn't bother trying to find it is just an excuse used by people who don't want have their opinion changed by facts... I believe there is still an underlying truth even if we can't find it. (Christina Rees)

* It might disprove my argument. And if we let people try to change other humans' minds you might attempt to change MINE!

WE CAN’T POSSIBLY DO THAT BECAUSE...
Interesting tidbit on Rory Stewart's experience as minister in DEFRA. Plan to plant 500 million trees, at minimal cost to the public, opposed by environmental groups on the basis that they wanted to micromanage "the right trees in the right places". (@AnyaM8_)

Americans: We can’t have healthcare and public transit because the government would have to do it and they’d be useless. (@AndyGJBurge. Other reasons for not having public transport: we'd have to mix with poor people and poor people are likely to be... you've got it.)

More here, and links to the rest.