It’s not all he said. He also included his anecdote about the AirBnB founders.
It’s a category error in that his statement is a binary one i.e. true/false, which he is using to defeat arguments which are about continua.
That is a category error.
It’s also a common method of deceptive persuasion - i.e. a dark pattern, but I don’t think PG was doing that on purpose, hence my assumption that it was an error.
You mean the issue is that the AirBnB founders were not really poor, and the category error is using them as an example for "poor"?
And isn't he just providing one example, it seems too much nitpicking to me to then go on claim he made a categorcial assumption based on an example of one?
Maybe the AirBnB founders were comparatively poor. You can always find somebody poorer, and even too poor to do a startup. Like if you have no money, no arms, can't talk, you may be so poor that doing a startup might become difficult. Yeah - OK. Poverty that makes it impossible to do a startup does exist. Doesn't mean that most people couldn't do a startup.
Ok - so you have just made the claim that most people could do a startup.
That’s much better than PG, and doesn’t fall into the category error because instead of a yes/no, you are talking about a continuum and you have made a claim about one of the bounds.
Your claim is that at least 50% of people are above the level of poverty required to succeed at a startup.
If true this would be very informative guidance.
So - can you justify your claim with any data at all?
It’s a category error in that his statement is a binary one i.e. true/false, which he is using to defeat arguments which are about continua.
That is a category error.
It’s also a common method of deceptive persuasion - i.e. a dark pattern, but I don’t think PG was doing that on purpose, hence my assumption that it was an error.