The Irrational Ape: Why Flawed Logic Puts us all at Risk and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World

by David Robert Grimes

Owen’s devious tactic of distorting Darwin’s argument is an archetypal example of a strawman argument. This gambit at its most basic is a ‘bait-and-switch’ tactic, pivoting on the impression of refuting an opponent’s argument while relying on an easily defeated substitute in its stead. The strawman gambit is particularly well named, conjuring up the evocative image of a sword-fighter demonstrating his prowess on a hay-stuffed mock-up in lieu of an opponent capable of parrying his blows. While there is no challenge in defeating an effigy, this style of argument can seem rather convincing if the switched proposition bears some superficial likeness to the real argument. This isn’t always malicious in origin – a strawman attack might arise from ineptitude, if one mistakenly conflates two different ideas. The great mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell alluded to this frequent problem, wearily observing that ‘a stupid man’s report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand’.