by The Logical Fallacy May 16, 2022

A guy who says offensive things and decides whether he was joking based on the reaction of people around him.
Any website that lacks effective moderation and allows some level of anonymity will, to varying degrees, approxomate 4chan, and be overrun with Schrödinger's Douchebags. Now this type of person defends, for instance, rape-jokes by saying "all humor is inherently punching down because there must be a butt to every joke." He hasn't thought about it. he assumes it's true because he figures "(he's) a smart guy, and whatever (he) assumes is probably right", but he's unfazed if you prove otherwise. There's no shortage of dodgy reasons he might be right and you wrong. He'll just pick another one. What matters is the game continues.
-- Innuendo Studios example of Schrödinger's Douchebag, "The Alt-Right Playbook: The Card Says Moops"
-- Innuendo Studios example of Schrödinger's Douchebag, "The Alt-Right Playbook: The Card Says Moops"
by The Logical Fallacy February 03, 2019

An adjective that applies to ironic punishment, often one that fits the crime or foible they are being punished for.
Named after Dante Alighieri, who's epic poem "Inferno" made the punishments of the damned ironic to the sins they were being tortured for.
Named after Dante Alighieri, who's epic poem "Inferno" made the punishments of the damned ironic to the sins they were being tortured for.
by The Logical Fallacy February 19, 2024

Films that attempt to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, and sensationalism with lurid and controversial content. Usually characterized by their B-movie quality, exploitation is filled with a variety of subgenres, such as Blaxploitation, Nazisploitation, Women in prison films, Cannibal films, Mondo films, etc.
"When you make an exploitation film, you always want to have a real issue. That's how they were always done."
-- Robert Rodriguez
-- Robert Rodriguez
by The Logical Fallacy June 10, 2017

A psychotherapeutic term for a cognitive distortion where anxiety or depression leads you to infer apocalyptic conclusions from mundane setbacks and anxieties.
Catastrophizing usually comes in a litany of steps that start from a mundane setback all the way to absolute existential hoplessness. For instance:
1. Oh no, I'm going to be late for work.
2. My boss is going to be angry.
3. I'm going to lose my job.
4. I'm not going to be able to get another one.
5. I'm going to be unemployed forever.
6. My family will starve.
7. Oh God, we're all going to die!!!
Each step in the sequence is arguably plausible, but the snowball effect takes it into the realms of absurdity after a while.
1. Oh no, I'm going to be late for work.
2. My boss is going to be angry.
3. I'm going to lose my job.
4. I'm not going to be able to get another one.
5. I'm going to be unemployed forever.
6. My family will starve.
7. Oh God, we're all going to die!!!
Each step in the sequence is arguably plausible, but the snowball effect takes it into the realms of absurdity after a while.
by The Logical Fallacy August 19, 2018

When a certain media property that, while unsuccessful when it first comes out, can manage to become a successful franchise overtime using nostalgia.
"Fortunately, Double Fine have managed to cling to driftwood long enough to wait for the inevitable twenty-year nostalgia wave to come around and can now surf that driftwood all the way to sex island with Psychonauts 2. Yes, they've pulled what's now technically known as the Shenmue gambit."
-- Psychonauts 2 (Zero Punctuation)
-- Psychonauts 2 (Zero Punctuation)
by The Logical Fallacy September 15, 2021

A subgenre of exploitation film that portray Mexican culture and portrayals of Mexican life, often dealing with crime, drug trafficking, money and sex. Examples include "El Mariachi", "Machete" and anything that features famed luchador Rodolfo Guzmán "El Santo" Huerta.
"For me, Mexploitation seemed like something that should have existed, but didn't."
-- Robert Rodriguez
-- Robert Rodriguez
by The Logical Fallacy June 11, 2017
