The ultimate dismissal, alleging that someone's foundational premises are so at odds with empirically verifiable facts or consensus reality that productive debate is impossible. This isn't just disagreement; it's the claim that the person has departed from shared reality itself, often into conspiracy, extreme ideology, or solipsism. It declares the argument not merely wrong, but unmoored from the objective world, making rational discourse pointless.
Example: Someone arguing that all world governments are secretly run by lizard people will be met with, "I can't debate someone who's playing the detached from reality card this hard. You're not operating from the same set of facts as the rest of the planet." It draws a boundary between debatable opinion and non-negotiable reality, placing the opponent outside that boundary.
by Abzugal February 3, 2026
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