#!markdown
I don't think Dave's point meets the definition of a straw man argument. There
has to be some acknowledgement that using the term 'motorbike' for e-bikes is
at best unintentionally leveraging the broad understanding of what a motorbike
is. What goes along with that is a presumption that these things have the
power to quickly do a lot of environmental damage, which can be a very emotive
mental image. On top of that, there's the potential conflict of interest where
some people might be using the term motorbike here to specifically mislead
other, less informed people (if that's imaginable) for their own selfish ends
of not wanting to share trails for whatever reason.
Jan. 10, 2017, 5 p.m. - Nat Brown
#!markdown I don't think Dave's point meets the definition of a straw man argument. There has to be some acknowledgement that using the term 'motorbike' for e-bikes is at best unintentionally leveraging the broad understanding of what a motorbike is. What goes along with that is a presumption that these things have the power to quickly do a lot of environmental damage, which can be a very emotive mental image. On top of that, there's the potential conflict of interest where some people might be using the term motorbike here to specifically mislead other, less informed people (if that's imaginable) for their own selfish ends of not wanting to share trails for whatever reason.