Concept · Cognitive Bias: Informal fallacies of relevance
Straw man
Origin: Traditional rhetoric; 20th century naming
Biological Parallel
Fork-tailed drongos mimic meerkat alarm calls to steal food—they create false threats that trigger panic, then consume abandoned meals. This deceptive signal exploits the target's actual response system by presenting a simplified, manipulated version of reality. The straw man fallacy operates identically: distort the opponent's position into an easily-defeated version, then attack that fabrication. It succeeds because our brains prioritize threat response speed over accuracy verification—just as meerkats flee first and verify later.