I agree that that could also reasonably be called Bulverism. But it isn’t what the OP is doing.
Any such evidence would have to begin [...]
I quite agree. And, for the avoidance of doubt, I wasn’t claiming that the OP is not-Bulverism because of this clause; what in my view makes it not-Bulverism is that it wasn’t aiming at refuting or discrediting or attacking Trump or his supporters. (I was lamentably unclear about that, and I apologize.)
The article speaks about “viewers”
Yes, it does, but that’s because the theory it’s offering goes as follows: Trump’s pronouncements are designed to elicit strong emotional reactions. The purveyors of media know that things that elicit strong emotional reactions tend to sell well. So Trump gets a lot of media attention.
what in my view makes it not-Bulverism is that it wasn’t aiming at refuting or discrediting or attacking Trump or his supporters.
Such things are not always written with an explicit statement “and this is an attack on Trump or his supporters”. The tone and context of the article resemble an attack made using plausible deniability. Even ignoring that, the article is functionally an attack; people who believe its conclusions will come away thinking that science has proven that Trump is a bad guy, regardless of whether the author meant for it to work that way.
The article makes an explicit statement of its purpose (which is something other than attacking Trump and his supporters). So does the description of it offered in the author’s OP. The article says very little that’s actually critical of Trump and even less that’s critical of his supporters (who, please note, are the ones who should be being attacked here for it to be an example of Bulverism). The author of the article has actually stated that he didn’t intend it as an attack and confirmed that the most attack-y bit—the title and subtitle—was put in by a subeditor (though he wrote those after your comment above).
Now, for sure, it’s possible that the whole thing is a deception and that Gleb_Tsipursky is really only interested in discrediting Trump while pretending that he’s trying to spread useful ideas about cognitive science and rationality. But I don’t see much reason to think so, and the fact that to you “the tone and context of the article resemble an attack” does little to convince me, especially as you have so far not deigned to say anything specific about the article.
In any case, it doesn’t particularly matter. I will happily stipulate the following: If interpreted as an attack on Trump’s supporters, the article is an instance of Bulverism. If interpreted as an attack on Trump, it isn’t quite that but doesn’t say anything to make its case. So now suppose that I, perversely, wish to read the article as what it claims to be: an introduction to some ideas in psychology that readers might find useful or interesting for reasons that have nothing to do with Donald Trump. Why should I care that another reading, entirely contrary to the author’s stated intentions, makes it bulveristic?
(You know what else looks like Bulverism to me? Your original comment here, which suggests that the OP’s analysis is “mindkilled itself” without offering any actual analysis of the analysis to justify the suggestion.)
The article is, as I pointed out, functionally an attack regardless of the author’s intentions. Someone who reads it will come away with the impression that science proves that Trump has no good arguments.
You know what else looks like Bulverism to me? Your original comment here, which suggests that the OP’s analysis is “mindkilled itself” without offering any actual analysis of the analysis to justify the suggestion.
I offered an analysis. The analysis is that the article assumes that Trump’s popularity needs to be explained away, which in turn assumes that his positions are bad, but does not offer actual arguments against them.
If you don’t like “assumes” because the author didn’t intend it that way, then replace “assumes” with “is written as though it assumes, and works like an article that assumes”.
Someone who reads it will come away with the impression that science proves that Trump has no good arguments.
Only if that person is largely incapable of reading an article that’s neither very long nor very complicated. I’m sure there are many such people around, and for all I know there may be a lot of them among Salon’s readership, but while I agree that “careless readers may come away with the wrong impression” is a reasonable criticism to make it seems grossly unfair to call the article irrational and bulveristic on those grounds.
the article assumes that Trump’s popularity needs to be explained away
No; it assumes that the level of media attention he’s getting relative to his support from the GOP establishment needs to be explained (or, if you insist, explained away).
which in turn assumes that his positions are bad
No, not even if we suppose that (contrary to my claim above) the article is assuming that Trump’s popularity needs to be explained away; what it would then be assuming is not that his positions are bad but that they’re unpopular, or at least would be without Trump’s alleged skill in manipulating emotions.
but does not offer actual arguments against them
Because assessing the quality of Trump’s positions is no part of the purpose of the article.
is written as though it assumes
I don’t see that it is. I would expect an article that actually assumes that to say different things.
To be clear, I did not write the article as an attack on Trump, but used Trump as an excuse to spread rationality memes. I could have used anyone else as an example if there had been a sufficiently good example. Of course, Trump is the best example of the point I was trying to make.
I agree that that could also reasonably be called Bulverism. But it isn’t what the OP is doing.
I quite agree. And, for the avoidance of doubt, I wasn’t claiming that the OP is not-Bulverism because of this clause; what in my view makes it not-Bulverism is that it wasn’t aiming at refuting or discrediting or attacking Trump or his supporters. (I was lamentably unclear about that, and I apologize.)
Yes, it does, but that’s because the theory it’s offering goes as follows: Trump’s pronouncements are designed to elicit strong emotional reactions. The purveyors of media know that things that elicit strong emotional reactions tend to sell well. So Trump gets a lot of media attention.
Such things are not always written with an explicit statement “and this is an attack on Trump or his supporters”. The tone and context of the article resemble an attack made using plausible deniability. Even ignoring that, the article is functionally an attack; people who believe its conclusions will come away thinking that science has proven that Trump is a bad guy, regardless of whether the author meant for it to work that way.
The article makes an explicit statement of its purpose (which is something other than attacking Trump and his supporters). So does the description of it offered in the author’s OP. The article says very little that’s actually critical of Trump and even less that’s critical of his supporters (who, please note, are the ones who should be being attacked here for it to be an example of Bulverism). The author of the article has actually stated that he didn’t intend it as an attack and confirmed that the most attack-y bit—the title and subtitle—was put in by a subeditor (though he wrote those after your comment above).
Now, for sure, it’s possible that the whole thing is a deception and that Gleb_Tsipursky is really only interested in discrediting Trump while pretending that he’s trying to spread useful ideas about cognitive science and rationality. But I don’t see much reason to think so, and the fact that to you “the tone and context of the article resemble an attack” does little to convince me, especially as you have so far not deigned to say anything specific about the article.
In any case, it doesn’t particularly matter. I will happily stipulate the following: If interpreted as an attack on Trump’s supporters, the article is an instance of Bulverism. If interpreted as an attack on Trump, it isn’t quite that but doesn’t say anything to make its case. So now suppose that I, perversely, wish to read the article as what it claims to be: an introduction to some ideas in psychology that readers might find useful or interesting for reasons that have nothing to do with Donald Trump. Why should I care that another reading, entirely contrary to the author’s stated intentions, makes it bulveristic?
(You know what else looks like Bulverism to me? Your original comment here, which suggests that the OP’s analysis is “mindkilled itself” without offering any actual analysis of the analysis to justify the suggestion.)
The article is, as I pointed out, functionally an attack regardless of the author’s intentions. Someone who reads it will come away with the impression that science proves that Trump has no good arguments.
I offered an analysis. The analysis is that the article assumes that Trump’s popularity needs to be explained away, which in turn assumes that his positions are bad, but does not offer actual arguments against them.
If you don’t like “assumes” because the author didn’t intend it that way, then replace “assumes” with “is written as though it assumes, and works like an article that assumes”.
Only if that person is largely incapable of reading an article that’s neither very long nor very complicated. I’m sure there are many such people around, and for all I know there may be a lot of them among Salon’s readership, but while I agree that “careless readers may come away with the wrong impression” is a reasonable criticism to make it seems grossly unfair to call the article irrational and bulveristic on those grounds.
No; it assumes that the level of media attention he’s getting relative to his support from the GOP establishment needs to be explained (or, if you insist, explained away).
No, not even if we suppose that (contrary to my claim above) the article is assuming that Trump’s popularity needs to be explained away; what it would then be assuming is not that his positions are bad but that they’re unpopular, or at least would be without Trump’s alleged skill in manipulating emotions.
Because assessing the quality of Trump’s positions is no part of the purpose of the article.
I don’t see that it is. I would expect an article that actually assumes that to say different things.
To be clear, I did not write the article as an attack on Trump, but used Trump as an excuse to spread rationality memes. I could have used anyone else as an example if there had been a sufficiently good example. Of course, Trump is the best example of the point I was trying to make.