Absurd Arguments are Useful

Sometimes a bad argument will do a better job of illustrating the good arguments point than the good argument does itself.

Sometimes, there’s a disparity between what you “know” and what you “feel”. For example, maybe you know that you should get out of bed and go to class, but you don’t really feel like that’s the right decision. In situations like this, reducto ad absurdum arguments are often useful.

What is a reducto ad absurdum argument? It’s an argument that is stupid and ridiculous. It shows that something is ridiculous by articulating it for you explicitly. When you articulate something explicitly, you often realize how ridiculous it is. When you haven’t articulated something explicitly, you often can’t really feel that it’s ridiculous. Reducto ad absurdum arguments articulate for you explicitly, so you could really feel that it’s ridiculous.

• “I know I should get out of bed, but it’ll be fine if I lay here a little longer.”
• “Of course that’ll be fine. I’ll just end up stressing myself out. It’ll only mean a little embarrassment as I stumble into class late. It’ll only lead to me missing the first 5 minutes of lecture, which’ll only set me back and leave me confused throughout the rest of the lecture. That stuff doesn’t really matter. Laying in bed is surely more productive.”

Other examples

Alexis Ohanian, one of the creators of Reddit, was recently on the Colbert Report. Colbert started off introducing him by talking about Reddit.He asked Alexis about it (as if he never heard of it).

He said something along the lines of, “Reddit allows users to vote on the best content? But you need gatekeepers in the media to tell you what you should like. People don’t have taste, they need to be told what to like.” I think this really showed the value of what Reddit does — let the people decide what content they want.

Another example of this is the foil, from literature. The foil is a character that contrasts with the good traits of the protagonist, and therefore emphasizes them. For example, Draco Malfoy is a foil to Harry Potter. They’re both talented wizards, but they make different choices and go down different paths. By contrasting with Harry’s good choices, Draco’s bad choices highlight them.

Without the contrast, we often aren’t appreciative of the good traits. We often need contrast to remind us that good is actually good. This explains why people often don’t feel fortunate for what they have until it’s taken away.