- The Motte-and-Bailey debating technique involves distracting opponents with agreeable generalities (the 'bailey') while avoiding discussion of the core, controversial position (the 'motte').
- This technique exploits the tendency of reasonable people to agree on broad, harmless points, wasting time and preventing critique of the actual proposal.
- To counter it, quickly steer the discussion to the opponent's weakest, most concrete position (the 'motte') using hard statistics, specific flaws, or direct questions about the proposal's details.
- Examples include abortion debates (focusing on the actual law's barriers rather than the value of family support) and Substack's Nazi content policy (challenging income from propaganda rather than free speech principles).
- Recognize typical bait: generalities everyone supports, emotional anecdotes, hypothetical strawman arguments, or abstract definitions; respond with concrete data, feasibility questions, or inconsistencies.