About

Your Argument is Invalid is a popular catchphrase often used as a playful counter-response in online discussions. In debates of logic, the argument tactic is also known as argumentum ad hominem, which describes "any attempt to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise." This meme draws certain parallels to the Pancake Bunny.

Origin

The Phrase

Although this expression predates the internet, many an internet know-it-all has used the phrase in chat, email, and on message boards. Here is an excerpt from a rather passionate exchange between a Windows user and a Linux user in 2001:

Nice ad hominem attack, David. Attack the messenger. Good boy.

That's not what I understood 'ad hominem' to mean. My understanding was that

ad hominem involved an attack on the person making the argument, followed by

an obviously false assertion that such attack renders the person's arguments

invalid, even though the details of the attack made are completely unrelated

to the matter being discussed.



Thus observing that you sent your mail using a Windows MUA, then declaring

that your argument is invalid because you're a Windows user and therefore

obviously mentally deficient, would be an ad hominem attack.

Nic Cage's Bird Hair

The now famous picture of Nicolas Cage's hair photoshopped into a bird is rumored to have originated on 4chan, although no archived thread exists to confirm this. This image macro places the clear insistence of logic on top of an image with a rather high WTF quotient.





Spread

On May 19th, My Hair is a Bird made the front page of Digg.com. The single topic blog for YourArgumentisInvalid.com image macros was registered on May 22nd, 2008.

"Your Argument is Invalid" has been since adopted by popular forums and imageboards alike, often used as a reaction image or interruptor in discussion threads.

Notable Examples





Antithesis: Your Argument Is Valid



