Terms
Reddit Specific Terms:
- Redditor: active viewer, poster, or commenter on Redditor.
- r/atheism: r/atheism is a channel on reddit. Every channel on reddit follows the r/[name-of-community] and contains a specific set of rules as to acceptable posts.
- upvotes/downvotes: upvotes and down votes determine the popularity and location of a specific post.
- memes: a meme is an image generated of a character or personality that represents an ideology.
The FAQ’s of r/atheism are pretty comprehensive and explain most of the terms on r/atheism; however, I will attempt to summarize, paraphrase, and simplify common terms and common arguments.
Poe’s Law »
Poe’s law states that when mocking a certain subject or belief, it is hard to discern the intentions. This is especially geared towards extremism: it is difficult to differentiate between genuine extremist values and those mocking extremist values.
Logical Fallacies »
A logical fallacy is a fault in an argument that can be implicitly stated. For example, a common argument on r/atheism is that some areas of Christianity state to do unto others as you would do unto yourself: however, this is not true for someone who for example is LGBT.
No True Scotsman »
No True Scotsman is the notion that people shift the goalposts when an example is provided to rationalize or derationalize an act. For example, if I were to say I’m Christian, but I was born gay, the No True Scotsman example would say that No true Christian was born gay. This is basically considered post-rationalization.
Dunning-Kruger Effect. Source: Imgur
Dunning-Kruger Effect »
The Dunning-Kruger effect states that people who aren’t intelligent are too unintelligent to realize their fallacies. Essentially, when people took a test that asked how smart they were relative to others: smart people under-valued themselves where as unintelligent people over-valued their intellect.
Example of Extremist Views of Atheism. Source: Imgur/Atheism
Baby Eating »
There have been some absurd notions that Atheists eat babies, and so Baby Eating is often used as a joke to label both an extremist view of atheism as well as an extreme atheist.
