Professor Timothy Caulfield argues that most viral online debates aren’t built to uncover truth at all, they’re built to produce a winner, a loser, and maximum shares. This one is for anyone who has watched a debate clip online and sensed something was off about the exchange without being able to name why.
Timothy Caulfield names the specific techniques behind that feeling, from the information overload of the Gish gallop to the bait-and-switch of the Motte and Bailey fallacy, and explains how state actors use these same tools to manufacture distrust in institutions. The conversation wraps with a simple framework for recognising when a debate is designed to inform versus designed to polarize.
Topics: Timothy Caulfield, Gish gallop, misinformation tactics, polarization, debate manipulation
GUEST: Timothy Caulfield | @caulfieldtim
