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When I read this part I thought it really resonated:

> In adulthood we can recognize the four types by their distinctive calls, much as you could recognize four species of birds. The call of the aggressively conventional-minded is "Crush this essay!"

He chose such a prescient example.

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I can't put my finger on it, but there must be a name for this kind of logic. I think pgs arguments have more sustenance than just this, but it still rubs me the wrong way. I'll give an (extreme) example below.

1. Make a statement, calling out some part of the population as "inferior".

2. Note that a trait of belonging to the inferior class would be to disagree with the above statement.

3. Dismiss any criticism of the statement as coming from someone in this inferior class, and therefore being unable to give meaningful arguments.

Gee, my sibling comment here was flagged, I don't know why, except maybe people saw "fascists/Nazis" and flagged it without reading it and/or the parent. Would the person/people flagging it care to explain why? Or do they have another better description for the style of reasoning in the parent's extreme example? Who have you seen talking/writing in precisely that way, besides fascists/Nazis? I thought my comment would be totally uncontroversial, both what it said and how I said it.

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