How to Debate Extremists Without Losing Your Sanity

How Republicans and others trick Americans into rejecting science and truth to further their goals of profit and power and how to combat it every time.

From tax cuts to culture wars, Republican arguments are often riddled with logical fallacies and bad-faith tactics designed to mislead rather than inform. Whether it’s a false dichotomy framing every issue as “freedom vs. socialism,” an appeal to fear about immigration, or straw man arguments against universal healthcare, conservative rhetoric frequently prioritizes emotional manipulation over logic. Instead of engaging in honest debate, many Republican leaders and media figures use ad hominem attacks to discredit opponents, cherry-pick data to distort reality, and repeat debunked claims until they feel true. Recognizing these tactics is crucial for countering misinformation and political deception.

We all should be interested in seeking the truth and uncovering lies, but Conservatives or Republicans do not, because they have an agenda to enrich and empower themselves and their friends over helping us everyday people. It is crucial to arm yourself against their propaganda.

Here are some Acronyms of Conservative or Republican approaches to policy making or arguing their points:

• A.I.M.S. - Anecdote, Ideology, Myth and Suspicion

  • Anecdote: Relying on personal stories or isolated experiences instead of systematic evidence. Republicans love anecdotes, humans have an emotional reaction to a story, not a stat, but one story is not a trend or norm. For example, out of 10,000 female college athletes, only 5 were transexual - that fact speaks for itself as to how much time and money Republicans have wasted on this issue.

  • Ideology: Prioritizing a belief system over objective facts, often rejecting conflicting evidence. Republicans want “the market” to do it’s magic and fix everything, but we know from experience and research that the free market is not just imperfect, it’s incredibly unfair and greatly effected by greedy behavior, criminal activity, advertising power, and other unfair issues. Trickle down economics is another ideological example that is well known to not work.
    Myth: Accepting traditional or widely held but unverified stories as truth. Republicans spread the myth that they are the party of fiscal responsibility and Democrats are the opposite, however, research over 50 years clearly shows the opposite to be true. Or, that America was founded a Christian Nation, something that is easily debunked.

  • Suspicion: Rejecting evidence or expert consensus due to distrust, often leading to conspiracy thinking. Republicans push the idea of a “deep state,” but provide no evidence, and instead create their own deep state, where Elon Musk provides zero transparency into his hacking and breaking into American databases.

• P.R.I.D.E. - Popularity, Rhetoric, Intuition, Dogma, and Echo Chambers

  • Popularity: Believing something because many people accept it. Just because a policy is popular among certain groups doesn’t mean it’s effective. Republicans claim that most Americans believe in tax cuts for the wealthy, so it must be a good policy. The idea that tax cuts for the rich benefit everyone is widely accepted in conservative circles, despite economic evidence showing otherwise.

  • Rhetoric: Persuasive but misleading language instead of sound reasoning. Republicans like to claim that Democrats want “open boarders. This claim is misleading because no major Democratic figure has ever advocated for open borders. The phrase is used as a scare tactic rather than a reflection of actual immigration policy proposals.

  • Intuition: Trusting gut feelings over evidence. Republicans “feel like,” immigrants are taking American jobs, however, data shows that immigrants contribute to the economy and take jobs that Americans won’t, some people rely on gut feelings instead of actual labor market statistics.

  • Dogma: Clinging to beliefs regardless of contrary evidence. Republicans will claim that Climate Change is a hoax, they refuse to accept overwhelming scientific evidence of human-caused climate change, and instead they hold on the belief regardless of evidence; this is dogmatic.

  • Echo Chambers: Seeking only information that reinforces existing views. Republicans will often say, “Fox News, OAN, and Joe Rogan all say the election was stolen, so it must be true.” Consuming only partisan media reinforces false beliefs and discourages exposure to counterarguments.

• F.A.L.S.E. - Fallacy, Authority, Loyalty, Superstition, and Emotion

  • Fallacy: Using logically flawed arguments. Republicans will argue that “if we let kids change their gender, then all kids will start doing it. This is a slippery slope argument. There is no research that shows that kids decide to change their gender because it’s a popular thing to do. This appeals to parent fears and overprotection.

  • Authority: Accepting claims just because an authority figure said them. Trump said the election was stolen, he is president, so it must be true. Information coming from authority alone does not make it true, especially when there is a clear and direct conflict of interest that greatly benefits the person making the claim.

  • Loyalty: Believing something solely because of group allegiance. Many Republicans over-value loyalty to their party, and this can be seen in their purchasing and displaying of merchandise like hats, bumper stickers, flags, and pins, as if politics is a college football game. Loyalty short-circuits critical thinking.

  • Superstition: Attributing cause and effect where none exists. Many Republicans make claims like, "God is punishing us with natural disasters because of liberal policies." This has been going on for over a century, where preachers make these silly claims, but we all know that it’s simply not true. For example, hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans except the French Quarter which was predominantly a gay community. By Republican logic, God punished the heterosexuals.

  • Emotion: Letting feelings dictate conclusions instead of facts. Fear is one Republicans most effective techniques. “Don’t tax the rich, they create the jobs, that will hurt Americans.” The fact is that nearly all countries tax the super rich much more than America and their economies have low unemployment and often higher wages than America. States with higher incomes taxes for super rich income earners have better functioning economies (compare Kansas to Mass.).

• B.L.U.R. - Bias, Luck, Unfalsifiability, and Repetition

  • Bias: Letting pre-existing beliefs distort reasoning. "Democrats always ruin the economy." Ignoring evidence that both Republican and Democratic administrations have had varied economic outcomes shows partisan bias.

  • Luck: Mistaking random events for meaningful patterns. "Gas prices went down under Trump, so he must have been a great president." Gas prices fluctuate due to global markets, not just presidential policies. Correlation doesn’t equal causation.

  • Unfalsifiability: Believing things that cannot be proven or disproven. "If we didn’t cut taxes, the economy would have been worse." There’s no way to prove or disprove hypothetical scenarios, making this argument useless.

  • Repetition: Thinking something is true just because it’s repeated often. Perhaps Trump’s favorite technique, say every lie three times. "Biden is the worst president in history!" This claim is often repeated in conservative media without any objective measurement, making it seem true through sheer repetition.

Keep in mind that the odds of convincing a Republican voter that they’re wrong is low because many voters will simply refuse to listen, and the very nature of Conservatism is to be closed-minded, to not think for oneself, to be intellectually lazy. However, many Republicans are open-minded and analytical, they have just been lied to, and Republican leaders have taken advantage of their loyalty. This is perhaps the MOST common problem Republicans face today from their leadership - they’re being lied to - all the time!

There are hundreds of ways to lie but when it comes to finding truth, there are very few ways or methods. Science and law have developed their own processes that overlap in some ways, as you can see in the grid below.

Science employs the most rigorous and strict rules of evidence, followed by law, but there are many other professions or disciplines that seek the truth, including the following with some explanation of techniques they employ:

1. Journalists

• Goal: Establish factual accuracy in reporting.

• Methods: Fact-checking, corroboration with multiple sources, document verification.

• Overlaps: Cross-examination of sources (like courts), reliance on empirical data (like science).

• Challenges: Potential Bias, misinformation, employer pressures, advertiser or funder influence, and ethical reporting constraints.

2. Historians

• Goal: Reconstruct the past based on available evidence.

• Methods: Primary and secondary sources, archaeological findings, textual criticism.

• Overlaps: Chain of custody, evidence-based conclusions.

• Challenges: Limited records, historical revisionism, subjective interpretations.

3. Philosophers*

• Goal: Seek logical and conceptual truths about existence, ethics, and knowledge.

• Methods: Logical reasoning, dialectics, critical analysis, thought experiments.

• Overlaps: Deductive reasoning, systematic methodology.

• Challenges: Lack of empirical testing, reliance on subjective interpretation.

4. Detectives | Intelligence Analysts

• Goal: Uncover hidden or obscured truths (e.g., crimes, threats, political intelligence).

• Methods: Surveillance, informants, forensic analysis, pattern recognition.

• Overlaps: Evidence collection, hypothesis testing (like science).

• Challenges: Misinformation, disinformation, malinformation, deception, legal/ethical constraints.

5. Physicians

• Goal: Diagnose and treat illnesses based on evidence.

• Methods: Clinical trials, case studies, patient history, imaging, lab tests.

• Overlaps: Empirical testing, expert testimony.

• Challenges: Uncertain or evolving medical knowledge, placebo effects, patient variability, incomplete data, knowledge gaps.

6. Economists

• Goal: Understand market behaviors, resource allocation, and financial systems.

• Methods: Statistical modeling, empirical data analysis, retrospective studies or comparisons, controlled experiments.

• Overlaps: Use of data-driven evidence, legal policies affecting economic decisions.

• Challenges: Predictions are probabilistic, influenced by human behavior.

The Pie Chart below shows how much each profession or discipline rely on types of methods to finding the truth. Each ring refers to one of the following:

Tan color = The most strict truth-seeking methods:

• Empirical Evidence – reliance on observable, documented facts.

• Critical Thinking & Logic – structured reasoning and avoiding fallacies.

• Verification & Replication – multiple sources, repeatability, or peer review.

• Bias Reduction Methods – mechanisms to detect and control for bias.

• Standards of Proof – some threshold that must be met for truth claims.

Green color = More Specialized Methods:

These fields seek truth but allow for more interpretation and subjectivity:

• History – Uses empirical evidence but must interpret incomplete records.

• Economics – Uses data-driven modeling but influenced by assumptions.

• Philosophy – Logical and conceptual analysis without direct empirical testing.

Blue color = Highly Overlapping Fields:

These fields apply strict truth-verification but with different emphasis:

• Law & Science – Both require admissible evidence and rigorous validation.

• Investigation – Uses empirical methods but allows for circumstantial conclusions.

• Medicine – Strong scientific basis but includes probabilistic reasoning.

• Journalism – Fact-checking and source validation, but sometimes relies on incomplete information.

You may notice above that Chiropractors, Homeopaths, Naturopaths, Reiki, Yoga, Acupuncturists or other similar types are not included; this is because these types medical providers do not employ valid methods of seeking the truth.

Although these may be called, “professions,” in superficial terms, they lack valid and sound scientifically-based theories and treatments. It’s relatively easy these days for practitioners of a technique or group of techniques to appear as professionals. From the grid below, you can see how Chiropractors and Acupuncturists can meet the criteria of a profession but, their profession lacks scientific rigor. In one example, patients who received fake Reiki did just as well as those receiving “real” Reiki. The same could probably be done with any of the professions below, patients would not be able to tell the difference, but the placebo effect would work just the same. In real medicine, the placebo effect still plays a roll in healing, but the treatment itself has a greater impact or even cures the illness.

There is a “war on science.” The reason why is because science is a threat to profits. Science is a threat to Oil Company profits by (1) identifying the Climate Emergency caused by Fossil Fuel companies like Exxon, BP, Shell, and Chevron, CNPC, and Lukoil, and (2) scientists discover alternatives to Fossil fuels like Solar, Wind, Batteries and others. Both of these are a huge threat to Oil Company profits, so they spend millions each year spreading misinformation, giving money to politicians, and other activities to control the laws to knock down the competition and increase their own subsidies.

There is a war on science from religions because knowledge diminishes the need for God. God was used to explain everything that humans could not. As humans gained more knowledge of how the world works, the idea of what God explains has greatly diminished. Religion leaders attack science, especially knowledge that strikes at the heart of a religion’s core beliefs. For example, Christian leaders will attack evolution use phony claims, because evolution shows how life adapts to changing environments, and humans have evolved as well, and are still evolving.** Religion is a business, preaching is a job, a career, and the products they sell are forgiveness, prayers for the sick, and eternal life. They have no overhead, no inventory, and they pay no taxes - no sales tax, no property tax, no income tax - a racket if there ever was one!***

There is a war on science by Chiropractors, Naturopaths, and complimentary medicine because that’s their competition, and science-based medicine is hefty competition! So, these practitioners often make jabs at what they call “Western medicine,” and have lengthy selling points of how their approaches are “holistic,” natural, or special. In the end, patients are often paying out of pocket for placebo effects from someone with good bedside manner and warm blankets.

There is a war on science by Anti-vaxers who rail against “big pharma,” but push their own books, subscriptions, routines or supplements. It’s amazing how people are not able to see that they’re being swindled. Snake oil salesman have been around for thousands of years, I guess why would today be any different. Southern and Western States defund education and overfund police and jails. We expect that people should be smarter, but unfortunately, knowledge is not passed down in our genes.

I could have made more acronyms for how Republicans use logic to spread lies and propaganda; there are over a dozen ways of spreading lies and making bad arguments. Here’s a list of the most popular logical fallacies that you can learn and then identify in arguments that Republicans put forth:

Straw man is one of the most common. You’ll see Tucker Carlson do this all the time. It goes like this: A Democrat will say something like, “We think that there needs to be more work visas for migrants so they can safely work in the US without fear of being arrested and deported.” Then Tucker will say, “Democrats wants open borders, where people can come and go as they please.”

If you print this list, you can watch Fox News and check off each logical fallacy like a game. I used to watch Bill O’Reilly and do this. He would often use false analogy, guilt by association, false dichotomy, and many others. Bill was very skilled at making false claims against Democrats to push Republican ideas. He would also use an endless amount of Ad Hominem attacks.

Republicans came up with their classic ad hominem attack against the media, “fake news.” This was as popular as it was ignorant. Trump fans loved it but it was nothing more than a childish response to facts or taking responsibility for problems that Presidents need to address. But for Trumpers, he can never be wrong and should never be challenged.

When arguing back against Republicans who are pushing nonsense, stick to a pattern (Socratic method):

1. Where did you hear that? (sources alone may lack credibility; point out conflicts of interest)

2. What exactly did they say? (sometimes people paraphrase and leave out important details)

3. Where did they get that information? (right-wing news often just makes up stuff, so find out their source, too; if it’s from a sci-journal - which one? Journal have ratings, they are NOT all equal)

4. What evidence is there for that claim? (evidence is most important)

5. Where is that evidence, I’d like to see it?

Evidence is the most important aspect of finding truth, and some types of evidence are more important than others. If they stick with you, it’s a good sign that they are open minded. If they shut down, they may have a low self-esteem and too much pride.

Here is a Grid of a Hierarchy of Evidence in Science and Law:

Debating Republicans often feels less like a battle of ideas and more like a maze of logical fallacies, emotional appeals, and bad-faith arguments. Whether it's straw men, red herrings, or false dichotomies, these tactics are designed to distract, mislead, and exhaust their opponents rather than engage in honest discussion. Recognizing these fallacies is the first step to cutting through the noise and challenging misinformation. Facts alone may not always win debates, but understanding how the game is played makes you better equipped to push back, call out deception, and hold those in power accountable.

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*Philosophy is the most essential or foundational process for finding the truth. For example, there is the Philosophy of Science, which provides the parameters for finding truth or facts using the scientific method. The Philosophy of Science has been indispensable at providing guidance to researches over the centuries. Karl Popper was probably the most important philosopher of science for the following reasons:

1. Falsifiability Criterion – A scientific theory must make bold predictions that can be tested and potentially proven wrong (e.g., Einstein’s theory of relativity predicting light bending around the sun). His “falsificationism” reshaped scientific methodology by arguing that scientific theories must be falsifiable to be meaningful—a direct challenge to traditional inductive reasoning. This single concept changed the face of science and made research methods incredibly more reliable than in years prior.

2. Demarcation Problem – Distinguished science from pseudoscience (e.g., criticized Freud and Marxism for being non-falsifiable).

3. Critique of Induction – Rejected the idea that repeated observations confirm a theory, emphasizing that one counterexample can disprove it.

   1. Induction is when we make conclusions from observations, but the conclusions are a probability, not a certainty, for example, every cat I have seen has fur, therefore all cats have fur; however, we know that some cats do not; it was probably but false.

   2. Deduction is based on facts and the conclusion is also certain, for example, all cars have wheels, a Mustang is a car, therefore it has wheels.

**Humans are still evolving. Humans living in higher elevations have developed more efficient hemoglobin. Humans who have grown up eating cooked meats, have over time developed smaller jaw bones. This fact was noticed by invaders of Europe who wondered why Europeans had such small jaws. The Europeans had grown accustomed to their new faces and saw invaders as beastly humans because of their large jaws. A simple difference explained by the fact that humans who have to chew tough meat maintain big jaw bones. Of course variations in skin color are clear signs of evolution, and in short periods of time. There are dozens of shades of human skin, from the artic circle to the sub Sahara, then down to the Antarctic, all related to the amount and intensity of the sunlight.

***People are raised to believe a certain religion, but everybody is about 99% athiest; that is, they don’t believe in any of the other 3,999 religions, just their one, arbitrarily. Had they been born in a different part of the world, they would believe in one of the others and reject their current religion with all the same vigor and venom, respectively. People stay in religion out of fear, but many people continue to go to churches not really for the god, but for the social aspect. If they were all alone in that church each Sunday, they would stop going, and they’d find a place where the people go. That’s what we really want as humans - connection. We don’t want to be alone, and we shouldn’t - individuality is not just overrated, it’s Neo-liberal propaganda.

Please forgive any typos or grammatical errors. This isn’t my full-time job. In fact, it’s not even a part time job. I do this for free because someone needs to!