very interesting and informative reading:
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop

* drowning the opponent in such a torrent of half-truths, lies, and straw-man arguments that the opponent cannot possibly answer every falsehood that has been raised. even old and worn out arguments are useful in overwhelming the respondent and bamboozling the audience

* emphasis on style over substance to make the "galloper" appear as an expert in a broad range of subjects and the opponent as an incompetent bumbler

* combined with the "point refuted a thousand times" (PRATT)--Once people have refuted a point the first thousand times, it's hard for them to muster the motivation to do it again. This could itself be a diversionary tactic.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/PRATT

* also takes advantage of the one single proof fallacy--if a respondent only manages to refute 99 out of 100 points there is still one point that "proves the galloper correct"
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/One_single_proof

* while making a statement is quick and easy, convincingly refuting it takes time regardless of how inaccurate the statement is--creationists skip around from topic to topic spewing out an unceasing blizzard of baloney and unsupported assertions about evolutionary theory, leaving the poor evolutionist to attempt to catch up and correct them all

IMPORTANT
In responding to the Gish Gallop, where possible it is best to narrow the debate down to a single topic--the age of the earth, or the fossil record--and then debate it through to its logical conclusion, preventing the common creationist tactic of suddenly changing the subject whenever he or she gets uncomfortable



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2011 08:53PM by Nick Humphrey.