Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by dav 2600 days ago
Did they have a word for the intellectually dishonest practice of just making stuff up to support one's argument?
1 comments

I think gish galloping is the modern phrase, gish gallopers are toxic.
Gish galloping is burying an opponent in an avalanche of claims or factoids that would take far longer to refute. The practice of just making stuff up without regard to its truthfulness is called bullshit, and has achieved some traction as a technical term thanks to this excellent little essay on the topic: http://www2.csudh.edu/ccauthen/576f12/frankfurt__harry_-_on_...

It reads like a joke at first, but is well worth your sustained attention.