Solo Drivers should be appreciative of buses, bicyclists, pedestrians and carpoolers -not resentful

[GiaGiovanni]

82. The poster was using a common strategy of trumping logical argumentation with emotional manipulation

The post was actually only tangentially related to the OP. The OP makes the proposition that motorists should regard cyclists who use major roads and highways with appreciation and not irritation. Various posters have answered that proposition, both yay and nay, but post #38 does not do that.

Post #38 merely shows a bicycle belonging to a dead child with some text related to the death. Please note that the OP does not mention children, but implies adult commuters on major roads and highways. The OP also does not mention sad deaths of cyclists, only the reasons why motorists should be grateful. Yet, for some reason, Post #38 refers only to dying children and bicycles. The post is not an argument for or against the OP; it's a gratuitous emotional manipulation.

Posts with photos showing or implying dead children are often used to "win" an argument by shutting it down. When you try to explain to a pro-life person why abortion can sometimes be a necessity, they respond by showing you lots of pictures of bloody, dead fetuses. They are attempting to shut down the argument by high emotional blackmail. The message is, "Too bad you have an ectopic pregnancy or have been brutally raped. Here is a bloody baby! See how disgusting you are for wanting any kind of abortion? Look at this blood baby!"

Post #38 does the same thing in regard to motorists. It says, "I don't care about legitimate arguments about cyclists on major roads and highways. Here is a dead child! See how disgusting you motorists are? Look at this dead child killed by a motorist!"

I have noticed similar strategies in the gun control debates as well. The overall strategy is to shut down logical argument and thoughtful examination of a problem, and, instead, produce emotional overload and guilt when it is not necessary.

This strategy may play well on TV, but it results in extremely bad policy. Emotional hysteria is the worst possible building block for good solutions and good law.