Straw Man

1. Straw Man By: ShakariaIge and Endesha Robinson

2. Straw Man The Straw Man is an argument technique when you pick a topic that can easily be knocked down. You pick a topic that you know your opponent doesn’t support. It’s a way of misrepresenting your opponents opinion. Ex:You think the government should raise fuel efficiency standards to cut down the amount of C02 we release over the next 20 years. Your friend thinks cars have nothing to do with it, and as you argue, he says something like “Our cities are built so that we have to drive cars. Your solution will kill the economy. How would people get to work without cars? It'll never work.” At that point you probably start twitching and can hardly wait to shout “When did I say we had to get rid of cars? That's not what I said at all!” You're twitching because your friend has thrown out a straw man argument. He's responding to an extreme version of your proposal that's easier to shoot down than your real proposal. He's arguing against the extreme idea that we need to get rid of all cars because it's easier than arguing against the moderate idea that we need to raise fuel efficiency.

3. How to use a Straw Man Let's say you believe genetically engineered crops should be more regulated, and your opponent believes genetically engineered crops should be less regulated. Your opponent could use the straw man technique by saying something like “If we take away farmers' ability to grow genetically engineered crops, if we eliminate that option, people will go hungry, nay, people will starve. Unlike my opponent, I choose to use the technology available to us and save lives.”