The Advocate Of The Devil

Nothing is more infuriating that to be on the verge of an intellectual victory with a worthy opponent and then hear them say, "I was just playing Devil's Advocate."

The correct usage of the Devil's Advocate does not involve just the countering an argument. The advocate of the devil is there to sharpen an idea, and therefore is actually on the same side as her "opponent". Additionally, the use of the Devil's Advocate needs to be invoked before it is used. To invoke the Devil's Advocate after it has been applied is to use it to cloak mean-spirited or useless argument.

It's not often that the counter of an argument needs to be vocalized. We all know why Republicans are bad and that cats are better than dogs. The Devil's Advocate should only be used when thinking about new ideas, when there is no opponent to the idea present, and is used to test the quality of the idea and identify weaknesses in it.

In short, being the Advocate of the Devil is almost always a dumb thing to do.