>the distance between us and the intellectual proles
What's the name for this argument? I know there's a psychological term, and I think it may have one of the 'logical fallacy' names too.
It's almost the opposite of the 'Appeal to Authority', where somebody ties their argument to the credentials of somebody else's intelligence.
In our case, somebody elevates their argument or themselves by holding it in comparison to a perceived cerebral inferior, genuine or not.
It's very different to belittling the opponent, or trying to lower their intellectual status; although, that may also be employed. It's more inflating the value by comparing to a partial strawman to represent an academic buffoon.
Like a guy who is 5ft3 standing next to a cardboard dwarf.
Like taking a picture of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and putting it next to a picture of Sam Harris, carefully timed to catch a sneeze so it looks like a downs syndrome cum face, and photoshopping a fedora on top of his head.
The argument is also employed a lot when somebody had done something wrong, so instead of trying to explain or apologise, they present a figure who is a lot worse (okay, I got arrested for stealing a warhammer figure, mommy, but look at uncle Sebastian, his ponzi scheme stole the pension's of twenty thousand seniors) the latter works deliciously well when you can actually find a scapegoat replacemen (... warhammer figure, mommy, but my brother was the one who pawned your engagement ring so he could pay for that week in Seychelles with his mates. I got caught but he was worse).
It's a fascinating intra-group behavioural event, and fascinating how individuals are shunned for not participating in the ridicule of the figure and reward for participating. I understand the psychology of microsociology, just wondering about the terminology.
Tl;dr-- what's the term for making yourself or your work appear bigger by making someone else or their work seem smaller?
...And is there a name for the figure who is always used for this purpose? Pop-sci authors like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Pinker, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins being obvious examples.
