Ad nauseam argument

An argumentum ad nauseam, or argumentum ad nauseam, is a fallacy in which it is argued in favor of a statement through its prolonged reiteration, by one or several people. The appeal to this argument implies that one of the parties incites a superfluous discussion to escape reasoning that cannot be counteracted, reiterating aspects that have been discussed, explained or refuted previously.

It is a common mechanism to reinforce urban legends or conspiracy theories, by repeating certain true or false statements until establishing them as part of the beliefs of an individual or society, turning them into "incontestable truths".

Its structure works as follows:

• A says B.
• B repeats constantly in the conversation.
• Therefore, B ends up becoming true.

The expression ad nauseam is a Latin phrase used to describe a debate that lasts until one of the parties abandons it due to fatigue or even forgetfulness; the phrase alludes to something that continues until it reaches - figuratively - to the point of nauseating. For example, "This issue has been discussed ad nauseam": means that it has been discussed so much that at least one of the parts have had enough of it or forgotten.

This fallacy comes from the false belief that if someone gets upset or dedicates so much energy to repeating a message, it is because it must be more truthful than someone else who doesn't get upset or can refute it. This can be observed in the political debate, in which the use of this technique is present in the parliaments of all democratic States, in which, added to the previous reiteration and the denial of discussion, the false belief is socially accepted as « true" without any critical analysis by the individual since the reiteration of that falsehood in their environment makes the individual accept it with the assumption that there is no possibility of annulling that belief.