Tactic
Suicide
Some claims die by their own rules.
How
- Listen for statements that cannot meet their own standard.
- Ask, gently, whether the claim applies to itself.
- Once the contradiction is visible, you do not need to pile on.
Questions to keep in your pocket
- Is that absolutely true?
- If no one can know anything, how do you know that?
- If judging is always wrong, are you judging me for judging?
In the wild
‘There is no truth.’
‘Is that a true statement?’ If they say yes, they have just claimed a truth. If they say no, there is nothing to answer.
Do not mock. Self-refuting claims often hide a wound. Name the contradiction, then ask what they are actually after.