User talk:Tim Scanlon

Greetings, Tim, and thank you for joining the wiki of s!  I hope you enjoy your time here. 08:28, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Argumentum ad Monsantium
Argumentum ad Monsantium, or the "Appeal to Monsanto" is a logical fallacy that combines many other logical fallacies and is favoured by anti-GMO and anti-agricultural science nutjobs. This is regularly used by many anti-GMO activists to reply to any argument in support of biotech crops with “So you love Monsanto?” or that the supporter of biotech crops is a Monsanto shill. Given that Monsanto has a lot of money, many of these accused shills are looking forward to their paycheck, which is surely due any day now.

The argumentum ad monsantium was coined by Brian Dunning on the Skeptic Blog. The advantage of this logical fallacy is the collation of so many other fallacies under one simple banner.
 * It poisons the well by associating the scary, evil word Monsanto with whatever has been said.
 * It’s a non-sequitur. IF someone likes the idea of science being used in agriculture, THEREFORE they love Monsanto and/or are receiving regular paychecks.
 * It’s a straw man. No-one can really love Monsanto, even if corporations are people. There are plenty of rational arguments available to show that it is a bad idea to love a corporation or Monsanto, and not one of them has anything to do with genetic modification.
 * It’s an ad hominem attack. Whatever is said about biotech must be wrong since “I love Monsanto”.
 * It’s a red herring. Monsanto does not necessarily have anything to do with any given science-based discussion of the merits of what can and should be done with direct genetic manipulation. The class on how to love Monsanto is yet to be approved in gentics and plant breeding courses.


 * I see you're working on a new article. It looks lovely!  But, for future reference, it's better to draft potential articles in a dedicated sandbox page (User:Tim Scanlon/sandbox, for example), rather than on a talk page where conversations normally take place.   05:23, 26 November 2012 (UTC)