Outflank, don't rebut

Arguing with anti-AI fanatics never goes well. Every answer gets taken to the absolute. A podcast has a name for the alternative: outflank, don't rebut.

The episode is "Mana-stripping through monikoring" by Decoding Trolls. It's about Russian disinformation, not neutral, and I can't judge the examples. The idea is simple though: don't answer point by point, name the move. A rebuttal means paying full price, on their terms, in front of their audience. Naming the pattern is cheap.

Does it work? Partly. A study found short videos about manipulation tricks helped people spot them, but in the real-world test the effect was small.

I wouldn't copy the host's nicknames, that's just name-calling. Name the technique ("that's a false dichotomy") and leave the person alone. And sometimes they're simply right. "Adapt or die" aimed at anxious juniors is a false dichotomy with a sales page.

The point isn't to win. It's to stop feeding the fight.