"That could be said for anything"

MoeDantes

Most of the time when I hear this as a counter-argument, my first thought is "Umm, no, it fucking couldn't." Sometimes I feel like the internet has so homogenized people's thought processes, that if they see even the remotest similarity between two games, two entirely different mediums, or two completely different sexual positions they assume they must actually be exactly the same, and the concept of nuanced differences or situational judgment are totally lost on people. Now, I get that a lot of times when I hear this, people are trying to point out that I'm making a "generalization." The problem is that's only a valid point if the generalization is without merit. "Most birds have feathers" is a generalization but its also fucking true. And the problem is, people try to prove my generalization wrong by making a different generalization that actually is without merit. They seem to be arguing that because theirs is wrong, mine must be too. Can people seriously not see why that's a fucking idiotic position to take? It reminds me of the time one of my school chums said that I'm a hypocrite for pooping if I get grossed out by the Christmas episode of South Park. Are we really this dumb?

TheConductor

Your "My generalisations are correct and everyone else's are wrong" is pretty much the same thing everyone thinks when they make a generalisations...

MoeDantes

See here's the thing, I have a litmus test:

I say "If I had a scanner, a digital camera and access to material on whatever the subject matter is, could I prove my case beyond a shadow of a doubt?" then its valid.

The problem though, is that I don't actually have the technology nor the kind of unlimited access I'd need to prove myself right. So I have to work on the Honor System, and the internet is a huge argument for why the Honor System doesn't work.

..Sigh, I need to get back to trying to divine the winning Lotto numbers.

DarkDecapodian

Funny, I thought this was trotted out for value judgements instead of factual arguments, which is why occurences are so frequent on TVTropes, a site wherein the interaction of multiple fandoms is prevalent.

'The fanbase for X consists entirely of drooling manchildren who couldn't find their arse with a map and both hands'

'The same could be said for (the fanbase of) anything.'

That kinda stuff.

glennmagusharvey

"The same could be said of all internet arguments."

TheMightyAnonym