6. Use reductio ad absurdum the technique of reducing an argument or hypothesis to absurdity, – by pushing the argument's premises or conclusions to their logical limits and showing how ridiculous the consequences would be, thus disproving or discrediting the argument. Speaker: States should require that its citizens buy health “The United insurance.” Advocate: the government can mandate you to have health insurance, can it also force Devil’s “If you to buy broccoli?” 7. Point out a flaw in the proposal Speaker: Home Owners Association should ban any new installation of swimming pools “The because homes with swimming pools use 49% more energy than homes without.” Advocate: suggest that a swimming pool is the sole cause of a home to use more Devil’s “To energy than a home without a swimming pool is a causal fallacy. Homes with pools are probably larger than non-swimming pool homes and most likely would have children living there, meaning more occupants and more energy. The pool may increase some energy but it is not the only cause.” 8. Expose an exception to the proposal Speaker: state should mandate that cyclists carry a form of identification just like motorists “Our are required to carry a driver’s license.” Advocate: certainly there are cyclists under the age of 16 who have a permit Devil’s “But don’t or a license and who ride on our roads. Does your proposal account for that driver’s exception?” 9. Identify hidden assumptions Speaker: is wrong because it is “Homosexuality unnatural.” Advocate: are falsely assuming that if something is unnatural, it is wrong. Devil’s “You Contraception is also unnatural, but I think you want to ban don’t contraception.” 10. Provide evidence that is ignored but contradicts the proposal Speaker: cannot be legitimate because a scientific study published in the “Global warming journal Nature found that 58 percent of Antarctica actually cooled from 1966 – 2000.” Advocate: that is true, the same article found that the rest of the continent was Devil’s “While warming during that same time.” 11. Show the downside of the proposal
6. Use reductio ad absurdum – the technique of reducing an argument or hypothesis to absurdity, by pushing the argument's premises or conclusions to their logical limits and showing how ridiculous the consequences would be, thus disproving or discrediting the argument. Speaker: “The United States should require that its citizens buy health insurance.” Devil’s Advocate: “If the government can mandate you to have health insurance, can it also force you to buy broccoli?” 7. Point out a flaw in the proposal Speaker: “The Home Owners Association should ban any new installation of swimming pools because homes with swimming pools use 49% more energy than homes without.” Devil’s Advocate: “To suggest that a swimming pool is the sole cause of a home to use more energy than a home without a swimming pool is a causal fallacy. Homes with pools are probably larger than non-swimming pool homes and most likely would have children living there, meaning more occupants and more energy. The pool may increase some energy but it is not the only cause.” 8. Expose an exception to the proposal Speaker: “Our state should mandate that cyclists carry a form of identification just like motorists are required to carry a driver’s license.” Devil’s Advocate: “But certainly there are cyclists under the age of 16 who don’t have a permit or a driver’s license and who ride on our roads. Does your proposal account for that exception?” 9. Identify hidden assumptions Speaker: “Homosexuality is wrong because it is unnatural.” Devil’s Advocate: “You are falsely assuming that if something is unnatural, it is wrong. Contraception is also unnatural, but I don’t think you want to ban contraception.” 10. Provide evidence that is ignored but contradicts the proposal Speaker: “Global warming cannot be legitimate because a scientific study published in the journal Nature found that 58 percent of Antarctica actually cooled from 1966 – 2000.” Devil’s Advocate: “While that is true, the same article found that the rest of the continent was warming during that same time.” 11. Show the downside of the proposal