eli5 Whats a “Straw man fallacy”?

Question

eli5 Whats a “Straw man fallacy”?

In: Other

Answer 1

A straw man argument is where, instead of arguing against someone with an opposing view, you invent a “straw man” that represents the opposing view, but you provide the argument it’s making.

Let’s say I say that I prefer steak over other meats, you then argue “Why do you hate bacon?”. I never said I hated bacon, but now I can’t actually have a discussion about my meat preferences because you have created this false argument that has completely sidetracked the original statement.