• moomoomoo309@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    10
    ·
    4 days ago

    That’s literally not whataboutism - whataboutism is when you use irrelevant topics to incorrectly prove a point. The poster literally said it was a litmus test, which means mentioning multiple things as they did is correct and is not whataboutism, especially since their argument is about propaganda.

    • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 days ago

      whataboutism is when you use irrelevant topics to incorrectly prove a point.

      Yes, which is exactly what they did.

      • moomoomoo309@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        4 days ago

        No, it’s really not. Once they said “litmus test”, that makes it clear they’re doing it intentionally, not as a logical fallacy - it’s gauging bias on common topics, which is relevant to a discussion on bias and propaganda. It’s not a series of seemingly-related non-sequiturs that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

        I’d love to be proven wrong here - how is what they brought up not relevant to the topic of bias and propaganda, especially wrt the west?

        • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          4 days ago

          Running some McCarthyist “litmus test” is irrelevant to what I said. At best it’s whataboutism, at worst it’s just fishing for an ad-hominem.

          how is what they brought up not relevant to the topic

          Literally 100% or instances of liberals using the term whataboutism are them referring to something that is relevant to the general topic.

          • moomoomoo309@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            4 days ago

            Oh, it’s definitely ad-hominem, that I agree with - they were literally testing your biases, as they stated. I don’t think it’s whataboutism, just ad hominem, actually. They’re accusing you of being as biased as anyone else, then asking a shibboleth to prove their point - the whole premise is ad hominem at that point. I think the differentiating factor is that the questions were about your beliefs, not about the actual events they brought up.

            • BrainInABox@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              4 days ago

              An ad-hominem is whataboutism: “Whatabout this thing that’s bad about you!” It’s an attempt to distract from the point with an irrelevant distraction.

              • moomoomoo309@programming.dev
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                4 days ago

                You’re right! I thought the meaning of whataboutism was more specific than it was, you just have to respond to an accusation with another accusation, that’s it! TIL