[dragonwriter]

> People say over-the-top, outrageous things out of emotionality, when they may mean something far less or completely different.

Yeah, but that's useless for communication of information (its useful for -- socially important -- request for and reception of sympathy, etc., especially from people with a shared emotional context.)

OTOH, when presented in a context where the intent is to get people who don't share the emotional context, especially in a context which asks for people to accept your position on a fact claim, change behavior, or support some kind of policy proposition, it is not useful, and it is appropriate to point out its deficiencies for that context and call on the speaker to recast it in a manner appropriate to the context.

[sageikosa]

Gotta agree on this one. Appeals to emotion are for persuasive argumentation, and best applied against audiences for whom sympathy to your narrative is likely. Skeptics aren't that audience.