Or possibly the new “triggered,” but not quite yet. It needs to grow.
There was a time in the not too distant Internet past, where discussions and arguments devolved quickly when someone invoked the “ad hominem” fallacy accusation. Or the exchange’s devolution had already happened and the accusation was just a signpost. Whether or not the offender actually committed the fallacy was irrelevant, the usage of the fallacy was broadened so much, and its usage overemployed, that any kind of personal attack (or mere observation of a personal matter) was an ad hominem.
Enter “gaslighting” and its rising popularity, according to Google Trends. “Gaslighting’s” rise mirrors that of “triggered,” though the latter has greater, and more consistent, raw numbers:
I won’t explain what “gaslighting” is here. And yes, like “triggered,” the term’s usage has broadened, from a very specific phenomenon into an umbrella term to explain and pathologize all sorts of criticism, valid or not. Undoubtedly, someone can safely confirm I’m probably gaslighting by posting about it in the first place. That may be an accomplishment.
The saner Internet users caught onto the ridiculousness of “triggering” quickly, though its usage doesn’t seem to have waned. “Gaslighting” is about to be new kid in town, the favored term du jour to excuse one’s self in the event your questionable behavior is brought to light. Enjoy responsibly.
7 Comments
Giving that ad hominem link a read and it’s good stuff. Just hearing the term brings to mind the YouTube atheists and their (general) inclination to resort to using the term to dismiss the efforts of nearly any Christian apologist. 😉
That kind of surprises me…from what I’ve seen, Christians are bend-over-backwards nice when dealing with atheists. Maybe I don’t pay enough attention?
It’s perhaps an over-generalization. More specifically, I’ve noticed the use of terms like ad hoc and ad hominem via atheists on debate videos.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched those types of videos, so I guess I wouldn’t know. The only one who really mentions something like that that I watch is Stefan Molyneux, and thank God he doesn’t mention it often.
Gaslighting is often used for internet behavior, which implies that people on the internet have control over their gaslighted victims. In other words, in the movie, it took a husband who had intimate access to his wife day in and day out to manipulate her into believing she was crazy, but nowadays, anyone can do it. No intimacy necessary. Ad hom triggers and wham! gaslit explosion!
Hold on one sec while I move everything on my blog over one pixel, like I do every day.
I knew it!