How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic (2006)

Nauseam, argumentum ad 111

market rates if he is dissatisfied with what Scrooge offers. But no;
ghosts rise up to torment his employer with the ad misericordiam,
and the hapless Scrooge is morally compelled to reach a decision
quite contrary to economic reality. A more valid response to this
treatment would have been 'Bah! Humbug!'
You will have a great time making your opponents squirm
under the ad misericordiam. Your audience is not too interested
in the fine distinction between fact and fiction, so you can easily
make those who reach different conclusions about the truth of
things seem like the most hard-hearted of Victorian landlords for
doing so.

If you really believe that high wages keep teenagers from getting jobs,

then all I can say is that you will have on your conscience the thousands

of poor families who struggle to find the means for life's necessities. May

Cod have mercy on your soul!

(Even if he does, the audience won't. When faced with this treat-

ment, turn it right back. What about the suffering and humiliation of

those poor teenagers, unable to find work because of your heartless

opponent? You can't expect to win with duelling pistols when your

opponent is using a howitzer.)

Nauseam, argumentum ad

Simple repetition of a point of view does nothing by way of
supplying additional evidence or support. Yet it can erode the
critical faculty. There is a completely mistaken supposition that a
thing is more likely to be true if it is often heard. The argumentum
ad nauseam uses constant repetition, often in the face of massive
evidence against a contention, to make it more likely to be
accepted.