Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Thank You For Arguing Chapter 19






                                 In a perfect world, we could have perfectly rational people having perfectly rational arguments about perfectly rational topics, using perfectly rational speech. Well guess what? But, this is America, and we will have absolutely none of that, thank you very much. In fact, perfectly rational speech can not only be a turn off to many audiences, but can actually distract them from the point that you were trying to make. This is one reason why Aristotle said that logos works better in an intimate setting than in a large crowd. So, to avoid making too much sense, try to focus on the individual value that could bring the group together and identify with you. And while we are on the topic of not being too logical, let us also talk about making your argument as simple as humanly possible for your audience. After all, this is America and we will have none of those pesky big words to justify our free education, thank you very much. One way to do this is by using reverse words. If your opponent says something, odds are they know the antonym to it. So, instead of sounding too smart, just use that. If they say up, you say down. Do not even think of saying downward, declining, descending, dropping, earthward, falling, sinking, sagging, sinking, etc. Nope, down will be much easier to covey, and won't run the risk of boring your audience with its superior intellect. 

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