Doubling down…

If I hear this phrase again…

Any debate, the other guy doubles down on their position. It’s become a problem.

It comes from Poker. The player makes a bet. Someone thinks that player is not on solid ground, and bets against the player. The player then at least tries to reinforce the impression that they do have a winnable position in the hand by doubling their bet on their own hand. Ah, the double down. The other players are forced into a choice, do I wait and see what they’ve got, which will also involve them doubling their bets also, or do they fold. If they fold it doesn’t matter what the first player was holding as the challengers have melted under the heat of the bluff. “Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.”

There’s a couple of things to it. 

Firstly, if it succeeds and you force the other players to back down, the strength of your hand becomes irrelevant. The merit of your position doesn’t matter. You bluffed, you deceived and you won. 

Secondly, Poker is a game of chance. Sure - guile, tactics and straight up chutzpah play a large part, but morals, intellectual rigour and social progress do not.

In short, it is a tactic used by either those in an impregnable position (rarely - i mean why would you bluff when you know you have a strong hand? Better to keep them betting and clean up.) or it is used by the desperate, the bankrupt, the desperado to defeat others with a blizzard of bullshit. It has no place in debate, discussion or any genuine search for the truth.

The double down in public discourse is the tactic of the bankrupt. “You debate my claim? I will just repeat the claim louder and hope you fold.”

Those in a strong position will just keep reminding you of their evidence and supporting material. The bankrupt, the bereft, the fool will double down.