Logical Fishing
A tactic where one participant deliberately moves the debate into a meta‑debate about logic, definitions, or fallacies, “fishing” for a procedural error they can exploit. Instead of engaging the content, they ask meta‑questions: “Is that a logical leap?” “Are you sure that’s not a hasty generalization?” “What’s your definition of X?” The goal is to hook the opponent into defending their reasoning rather than advancing their argument. Logical Fishing is often used by bad‑faith debaters to derail discussions and exhaust opponents.
Example: “Every time she made a point, he asked ‘but is that logically valid?’ Logical Fishing, trying to pull the debate away from substance and into meta‑analysis.”
Logical Fishing by Abzugal April 3, 2026
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