Sunday, October 07, 2007

TV show BS

What would you call a TV show that cheats in it's tactics to expose everything that is not True? BS? Yes, the show that names itself BS is itself a prime example of BS. You'd think in this age of irony, their ratings would be higher.

Two magicians who got their start blabbing the secrets of their craft, Penn and Teller, shovel up these moist, steamy bowlfuls of BS on cable TV. This show could be used as the textbook case of faulty debate argument techniques. (Is Michael Moore involved in this project?)

Look for:

-editing quotes out of context
-citing extreme cases of your opponents arguement as the norm
-linking images with alternate words
-calling names and using obscenity and blaphemy
-re-stating your opponents arguement falsely
-generalizing based on one case
-hosting sympathetic and biased authorities, or experts in the wrong field
-isolating one part of the whole arguement

I should have know that Truth is the last thing to expect from a pair of stage magicians.