164 How to Win Every ArgumentWhen you are searching for trivial objections with which to do
down ideas which are difficult to oppose head-on, you can
always drag up objections from highly unlikely hypothetical
situations.Yes, vicar, I would like to come to church more regularly. But suppose the
house caught fire one Sunday morning while I was away?
(Why, it would then become another flaming excuse, like this one.)If you dwell on your objections, listing them and showing how
each one is valid, your audience will be impressed more by their
weight of numbers than by their lack of substance.
/ too like the idea of extending choice by having vending machines in
trains, but there are eight objections. First, how would passengers
manage to get the right coins for them? Second...
(Very good, so long as you never mention the real objection, which is
that they would enable people to bypass failures in the existing ser-
vice. Stick to the trivia; it's safer ground.)Tu quoqueTu quoque means 'you also', and is committed when a case is
undermined by the claim that its proponent is himself guilty of
what he talks of. It is a change of subject from a claim made by a
proponent to one made against him. ('You accuse me of abusing
my position, but you're the one whose company car is seen
propping up the rails at the local race-course!')
With a little more subtlety, the tu quoque can be used to
undermine an accusation by discrediting the accuser.