The Blog

If someone came to you and said that he has insight that would revolutionize your ability to quickly and clearly identify false philosophies and statements that permeate our culture, would you be interested?

One valuable skill that some people have learned through years of seminary is the ability to identify and refute self-defeating statements.

A self-defeating statement is one that fails to meet its own standard.

For example, if someone says “there is no truth”, it would be self-defeating because the caller indirectly claims his statement to be true and thus defeats itself.

Self-defeating statements are made frequently in our postmodern culture. Once we sharpen our ability to detect them, we will be fearless defenders of truth.

We call this process of turning a self-defeating statement on itself the “Road Runner” tactic because it reminds us of the cartoon characters Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.

In this cartoon, the Coyote’s one and only quest is to chase down the speedy Road Runner and make him his evening meal. Just when the Coyote is gaining ground, the Road Runner stops abruptly at the edge of the cliff leaving the Coyote momentarily suspended in midair. As soon as the Coyote realizes he has no ground to stand on, he plummets to the valley floor and crashes in a heap.

This is exactly what Road Runner tactic can do to postmodernists of our day. It helps them realize that their own arguments cannot sustain their own weight.

Personal Reflection:

How do you think this method is used to identify and refute self-defeating statements in our culture?