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The Gish Gallop

Throw enough nonsense at someone fast enough, and they'll never be able to correct all of it. That's not a bug — it's the strategy.

The Gish Gallop is named after creationist debater Duane Gish, who would fire off dozens of misleading claims in rapid succession during debates. Each claim took seconds to make but minutes to properly refute. His opponents would spend their entire time correcting falsehoods while Gish moved on to new ones. To the audience, it looked like the opponent had no answer — when in reality, they just couldn't keep up with the pace of the nonsense.

This technique thrives in any format where time is limited and spectacle matters more than accuracy. Political debates, cable news segments, social media threads — anywhere the audience rewards speed and confidence over careful reasoning. The person using it doesn't need to be right about anything. They just need to produce more claims than the other side can address.

The defence is surprisingly simple but socially difficult: refuse to play the game. Instead of chasing every claim, pick one, dismantle it thoroughly, and point out that the flood of other claims is itself the tactic. Name the pattern. Audiences can understand "this person is throwing too much at me on purpose" — but only if someone says it plainly.

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