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Irrational Techniques of Persuasion

Irrational Techniques of Persuasion. Loaded Terms. A Loaded Term is any term with a clear descriptive meaning and a positive or negative evaluative meaning, which is used in an attempt to persuade us to accept the evaluation conveyed by the term

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Irrational Techniques of Persuasion

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  1. Irrational Techniques of Persuasion

  2. Loaded Terms • A Loaded Term is any term with a clear descriptive meaning and a positive or negative evaluative meaning, which is used in an attempt to persuade us to accept the evaluation conveyed by the term • Egs. Freedom fighter vs. terrorist, regime vs. administration, pro-active vs. aggressive, public investment vs. public spending, bureaucrat vs. public servant, activist vs. demonstrator, Bourgeoisie vs. working families, visual pollution vs. urban art • In your own writing try to avoid loaded terminology (neutral terms), or provide precise definitions

  3. Loaded Terms—Fallacy of Equivocation All terrorists are not welcome in Canada The Tamil Tigers are terrorists The Tamil Tigers are not welcome in Canada VS. All freedom fighters are not welcome in Canada The Tamil Tigers are freedom fighters The Tamil Tigers are not welcome in Canada

  4. Vague Terms • When an argument relies on the fact that a sentence lacks a precise meaning in order to defend its conclusion • Eg. “Vote for Jones, he thinks outside the box” could mean: A vote for Jones is a vote for your favorite innovative political policy OR a vote for Jones is a vote for a person who can think creatively OR it’s a vote for someone who will challenge the status quo OR …

  5. Selectivity • Form of argument (based in weak inductive generalization) in which one tries to convey some desired impression or evaluation by focusing on select examples • Eg. Someone opposed to public funding of the arts discussing the “Voice of Fire” ($3 million for 3 colour stripes) or the “Meat Dress” (mannequin covered in meat), which are works at the National Gallery

  6. Misleading Statistics • Median: Is the middle point in the range where half the individual cases will be above it and half below (very useful for checking if averages are hiding significant disparities) • Eg. Global warming will only raise average world temperatures by 2 degrees (but this would mean an entirely new climate system) • Context of #s and how they have been generated must be known

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