Argument From Gibberish

An argument by gibberish is one that relies on nonsense, inscrutable words, or impenetrable jargon, i.e. gibberish. An argument by gibberish is a formal fallacy and is a type of non sequitur. Because the argument by gibberish is nonsensical, it may also try to rely on an appeal to emotion by verbal inflection, shouting, or use of emotive phrases (e.g., "Hell, I was born here!") that are tangential to the argument.

The form of the argument by gibberish is:

P1: A valid proposition (or potentially a nonsense sentence).

P2: A nonsense sentence.

C: Therefore, X is true.

For example:

P1: The sky is usually blue

P2: Angels are sometimes blue because pixies are sometimes lazy depending on their mood

C: Therefore angels are sometimes the sky

The argument by gibberish differs from word salad in that word salad may or may not be part of an argument. However, word salad can form one or more of the premises/conclusions of arguments by gibberish. The statements may fail in having incoherent premises/conclusions (meaning it may be non-sequitur/unsound).

Contents

• 1 Validity as a Fallacy?

• 2 Examples

  • 2.1 From the film Blazing Saddles

  • 2.2 From the film Kind Hearts and Coronets

  • 2.3 From Time Cube

  • 2.4 From TempleOS

  • 2.5 From QAnon

• 3 Background, context and tools

• 4 External links

• 5 See also

• 6 References