The 2024 Legal Defense Fundraiser has ended early due to the Board's decision to settle the suit. Donations will go towards the creation of a legal defense fund. Discussion on the matter can be found at the RationalMedia Foundation noticeboard. Thank you for your generous support.

Information icon.svg Campaigning is open for the RationalWiki 2024 Board of Trustees election.

Refuting

From RationalWiki
Revision as of 11:07, 31 March 2018 by 96.236.208.164 (talk) (weird pronoun list -> they)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Cogito ergo sum
Logic and rhetoric
Icon logic.svg
Key articles
General logic
Bad logic

Refuting means to disprove or debunk an assertion, by presentation of facts and/or logical analysis.

One of our delightful IP visitors, however, thinks this:

[Refuting:] To disagree, or assert the opposite.

The original meaning was to DISPROVE something, but no one uses that anymoer

A modern example is "The Prime Minister refuted the suggestion that he was a fool, by saying that he wasn't." (sic)

Probably because they disagree with something we said. Refutation of pseudoscience and illogic is an essential part of RationalWiki's mission.

See also

Backfire effect