Originally Posted by indigo
Point well taken. However in that light, now I must regard the author's article as a failure... as it has achieved the opposite effect on this board as that which you ascribe. On this board, his article has not caused a cessation of thinking... but rather lively discussion, critical thinking and analysis, and focused research for and sharing of primary sources and related articles.

Yes, but this is not your typical audience. The vast majority of readers will not verify the claims against the original source.

And yet, the furtive fallacy is still being expressed in this thread, so even in atypical audiences, it works.