Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan

Author:Mehdi Hasan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

MEET THE GISH BEHIND THE GALLOP

The late Duane Tolbert Gish was an evolution-denying biochemist who worked as the vice president of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). The Dallas-based pseudoscience outfit has long wanted to mainstream “Young Earth” creationism—the Genesis-based religious worldview that says all life on Earth was created in six days by the God of the Old Testament at some point in the past ten thousand years, with evolution playing no role. In fact, as the San Antonio Express-News reported in 2011, the ICR “tried to force the state of Texas to allow it to offer master’s degrees in science education”—from a biblical perspective, of course. But a federal judge threw out the ICR’s lawsuit in 2010, rejecting it as “overly verbose, disjointed, incoherent, maundering and full of irrelevant information.”

Still, while Gish’s organization could not win in a Texas courtroom, Gish himself made a name for the ICR and Young Earth creationism by winning argument after argument against evolutionists in debate halls across the country.

To be clear, he wasn’t winning on substance or through erudition. He was winning with speed and confidence—and humor, too. “It was perhaps his personal presentation that carried the day,” noted a flattering obituary published by the ICR itself upon Gish’s death in 2013. “In short, the audiences liked him.” Even his critics, like the computer scientist Richard Trott—who tangled with Gish on more than one occasion—acknowledged the latter’s “extraordinary charisma” and his “natural gift for a folksy and relaxed presentation.”

Conspiracy theory expert John Grant explained the key to Gish’s style and strategy in his book, Debunk It! Fake News Edition: How to Stay Sane in a World of Misinformation.

Gish would insist his opponent go first. After his opponent was finished with his or her argument, Gish would begin talking very quickly for perhaps an hour, reeling off a long string of “facts.” His debating opponent, of course, didn’t have the chance even to note down all those “facts,” let alone work out whether or not they were correct. In his or her rebuttal, the opponent could either ignore Gish’s tirade altogether, which would look like dodging the issue, or try to answer as many of the points as possible, which meant looking as if he or she were floundering. Gish’s trick was a clever one, and it fooled a lot of audiences.

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