# "Let's see you do better" argument **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130 "2011-07-07T03:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/1 "2011-07-07T03:23:03Z")
Does anyone know if there is a specific name for this sort of argument? [This page](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlecl8xukzuauw1?from=Main.LetsSeeYOUDoBetter) discusses it but doesn’t name it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/2 "2011-07-07T14:42:15Z")
I don’t know if there’s a specific name for it. I do know that I appreciate a skill more if I’ve tried to do whatever it is. Maybe it’s crocheting or knitting, or sailing, or martial arts. But I’ve come to learn that just because something looks easy, doesn’t mean it is easy. Also, my husband learned to quit criticizing my cooking and cleaning, because I’d ask him to show me how it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/3 "2011-07-07T14:46:44Z")
Thanks Lynn. It was a pretty pointless Internet argument where I criticised a govt official and got the “Lets see you do better!” Like he is going to move aside and let me try? From that sinecure? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/4 "2011-07-07T15:36:19Z")
This is called the “I’m Sick of Your Bitching, so I’m Going to Request That You Do Whatever it is You’re Critcizing so That I Can Shut You Up” argument. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/5 "2011-07-07T16:37:16Z")
Hey, if you don’t like that particular argument, then let’s see you… uh… yeah! ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/6 "2011-07-07T16:38:48Z")
You’re right, it should have a name of it’s own. Looks like you get to pick one, have at it! Here’s your chance for internet fame! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/7 "2011-07-07T16:42:48Z")
I hate that argument - just because I can see something isn’t working doesn’t mean that I know how it could work better. I can tell from a guy crashing an airplane that that isn’t working, but it doesn’t mean that I’d do a better job flying an airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/8 "2011-07-07T17:31:35Z")
It’s especially amusing when dealing with someone who was trying to show off. A while ago there was a young woman who uploaded a video of herself briefly demonstrating two dozen or so accents from around the English-speaking world. The comments section was full of people saying, “I’m from Atlanta/Sydney/Belfast/Cape Town and she didn’t do my accent very well.”, along with a few defenders saying, “Well, let’s see you do two dozen accents better!”. That misses the point. The point is that if you can’t do something, you don’t stand up in front of the whole internet and say “Hey, everybody! Look at me! Look how good I am at this!”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/9 "2011-07-07T20:26:50Z")
It’s the Peevish Self-Styled “Expert” Riposte. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/10 "2011-07-08T03:24:55Z")
I know what the OP means- it’s especially jarring when you _can_ do better but aren’t able to, especially if it’s because the opportunity simply isn’t there for you to do so. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/11 "2011-07-08T04:01:17Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It’s the Peevish Self-Styled “Expert” Riposte. Yip. It is an _ad hominem_, attempting to portray the person as someone who criticizes everything without the necessary knowledge. And, when your argument is based on your expertise, rather than on evidence, it’s actually perfectly cromulent. Compare someone who points out an actual flaw in a photoshop, compared to someone who always says the photoshop looks “fake.” If the latter can actually make or at least point out photoshops that look real, he has an argument. If not, he doesn’t. But the former doesn’t need to point out anything. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/12 "2011-07-08T17:26:31Z")
Dammit. I was hoping it had a name. I criticized a book in an Amazon review and got the same comment: “Let’s see you do better!”. It’s like saying “If you aren’t published, you can’t criticize.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/13 "2011-07-08T17:37:10Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Dammit. I was hoping it had a name. I criticized a book in an Amazon review and got the same comment: “Let’s see you do better!”. It’s like saying “If you aren’t published, you can’t criticize.” It also seems to be a way of dismissing your criticism without evaluating whether it has any merit or not - it’s basically a _non sequitur._ It _seems_ to be relevant, but it really isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/14 "2011-07-08T17:45:18Z")
It’s simple _ad hominem_. Attacking the person instead of the argument. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-see-you-do-better-argument/588130/15 "2011-07-08T17:51:02Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I can tell from a guy crashing an airplane that that isn’t working, but it doesn’t mean that I’d do a better job flying an airplane. I can just picture that. The plane is going down, there is not hope of recovery, and it’s certain death for all involved. And the pilot is yelling to the passengers “Oh yeah?!? I’d like to see you do better!”