Brainpost
A specific type of post in online debates—often a form of goalpost-moving and proofpost—that deploys brainlighting or brainsplaining to dismiss an opponent without engaging their argument. Brainposts include memes of someone pointing at their head (“use your brain”), GIFs of characters looking confused, or text like “free brain to you” (implying the target needs one). They function as rhetorical shortcuts: instead of responding to substance, the brainposter implies that the target is simply too stupid to understand, and that further engagement is pointless. The post moves the goalpost from “provide evidence” to “prove you have a brain”—an impossible standard that ends the conversation while letting the poster appear superior.
Example: “She laid out a detailed argument with citations. His reply was a GIF of a cartoon character saying ‘you dropped your brain.’ That was it. Brainpost: using the implication of stupidity to avoid engaging with ideas.”
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