Rebuttal and Refutation

Hemanth B
5 June 2021
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What is rebuttal?
Theory
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 Disputing statistics
 “They said Modi’s approval ratings after COVID-19 are 65%; but
actually it’s 55%”

 Suggestions
 “They want a test for all voters, but there are no study materials
for this test even if one wants to improve”

What isn’t  Mitigation

 “It’s true that some people will drop out if schools do not have
rebuttal? vocational training; but that’s okay because some people will still
graduate and go to college”

 Shooting your opponent through your self

 “They say their broccoli is tastier than our spinach; but all green
veggies are inedible anyway, so they’re wrong”
 “Women only SEZs won’t work because men won’t allow women
to work elsewhere and travel back and forth”
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 Your corresponding argument: useful, but not rebuttal

 They said: “gig economy contracts are good for worker flexibility
for students, single parents, part-timers, etc.”
 But cf our point: “flexibility means your time is reduced to just
enough to never get full time employee benefits like insurance”
 Good point, useless rebuttal
What isn’t  Weighing is also useful, but not rebuttal
rebuttal?  “Their X is less important than our Y”
 “They say open immigration is bad for developing nations; but
this does not matter because people have the right to live
anywhere they choose to”
 Maybe, but not ‘rebuttal’

 Anything that lacks offense

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 Turn/flip of outcomes
 Disproving that the outcome flows from the logic/assumptions
 And showing that, actually, something bad flows from their logic!
Without this, the former is toothless.

 Spot inconsistency between ‘stance’ and ‘reality’

What is rebuttal?  And following up with why this incompatibility displays the
impossibility of reasonably supporting their side. Without this, the
former is, again, toothless.

 Anything that’s a gotcha! moment

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 In THW ban advertising, that “advertising creates cultures of

‘false’ pleasure around consumerism”
 False pleasure is nothing but ‘culture’
 Brand community is fantastic, e.g., HMT watches, Notion,
Penguin, Netflix, PlayStation, etc.

 In THW give more votes to citizens based on a political

Flipping awareness test, that “this privileged informed voting”

Outcomes  Testable intellect privileges a form of political awareness that’s

actually terrible; nothing like the political awareness of lived
experience
 ‘Informed people’ are but privileged people who are terrible for
representation; e.g., BJP tracks best among college educated
people in Kerala; what do city folks know about slum clearance?
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THBT university degrees should not be

required for employment because we won’t be
able to ensure everyone gets a degree anytime
soon, so better to work with what we have…
Your turn!
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 THW give more votes to citizens based on a political awareness

test
 You say tests measure political validity
 Who has the time to take a test?
 Who has the literacy to take a test?

Your logic  Who has the vocabulary to take a test?

 Who sets the test? What are their biases?
actually leads to  THW ban music with sexist lyrics
a terrible thing  You say this makes music more progressive
 Who has the best ability to perform wokeness? Privileged, apolitical
idiot elite popstars or the raw musicians of the subaltern?
 Who decides what is sexist? What does history teach us about
privileged women (read: anti sex work for ex)?
 Is killing political rage, protest, indigenous music, etc progressive?
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THW legalize genetic

modification
Your turn!
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 TH prefers regional trade BLOCs over global free trade

 Are you pro-free trade? If yes, then this is the opposite of what the
theory furthers? If no, then why even regional FT?

You cannot  THW ban religious advocacy in public spaces

have your cake  Can I give speeches? Can I have an atheist lecture? Can I build
statues? Can I celebrate festivals?
and eat it too  Point is, this is a false line drawn with the intent to engineer
outcomes; any such line for what is “brainwashing” is impossible
to draw; can never be ethically fair to do so
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 THR the development of mass tourism in world heritage sites

 Who was their vulnerable actor? Tourists? That tourists won’t
enjoy these sites as much now? Who cares?!
Sometimes, you can  Compare this to the entire Agran economy supported by the Taj

also just throw your Mahal. If your biggest fear is that some people just take in selfies
on the great wall, sure, but compare this to the popularization and
hands up and say preservation brought in by mass tourism

‘Who cares?!’…  Yet again, see how when I poked a hole, I filled it with my
own trash: this is the golden rule of rebuttal
 Thou shall not hit and run
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Always follow poking

holes up with filling
your own trash
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 Gather into clashes

 Evolve: respond to responses
 E.g.: THW give more votes inversely proportionally to age
 P: Young people have filial piety, but in contrast, old people
expect 18+ to be independent

Strategy  O: Old people were once young

 P: means harder for old people to change on, e.g., race/gender, because
it’s a slight to their own past self and past actions

 Resolve with weighing

 Prioritize gotcha!s
 Phrase to win
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Questions?