Quote mining
Quote mining is a pejorative term that expresses objection to the use of quotes by a person that tend to discredit a position taken by that person. For example, supporters of the theory of evolution criticize as "quote mining" use of quotations by evolutionists that admit to flaws in the theory.
According to TalkOrigins.org, quote mining is "the use of a (usually short) passage, taken from the work of an authority in some field, 'which superficially appears to support one's position, but [from which] significant context is omitted and contrary evidence is conveniently ignored.'"
However, this is simply the fallacy of taking a quote out of context. The term seems to be used to suggest or claim that people have deliberately taken quotes out of context, and (b) have done this on a large scale. The term appears to be used in many cases where there is no, or insignificant, evidence of the quotes being taken out of context.[1]
The origins of the term are unknown, but it appears to date from the late 1990s.[2] It is not recognized by any dictionaries. Its most common use is by evolutionists to oppose the use of quotations of evolutionists by creationists that tend to discredit their theory.[3]
Many people, especially in the legal and political fields, use quotes by others against them. There is nothing objectionable about this practice, and the term quote-mining could apply to nearly every legal proceeding and political campaign.
References
- â For example, the TalkOrigins.org Quote Mine Project claims to document many such fallacious quotes, but which in many cases don't stand up to scrutiny.
- â According to TalkOrigins.org, the first known use was in 1996.
- â The anti-creationists web-site TalkOrigins.org TalkOrigins.org claims 3636 out 4270 Google hits.
External Links
- Selected Creation/Evolution Quotes
- Creation Quotes list from Answers in Genesis
- (Talk.Origins) Quote-mining - CreationWiki
- The Quote Mine Project - hosted by the talk.origins archive