January 1, 1

Everything’s an argument chapter 4

Intro

People like evidence more than reasoning
- Pictures of missile tests
- “smoking gun”
- data
Helps back up claims
- Some caveats:
  - Make sure evidence is reliable
  - Watch for how topics are framed
  - Remember that bad evidence often gets circulated
    - Antivax
    - “Obama is a Muslim”
    - Flat Earth

“Figures lie and liars figure”
Numbers have to be interpreted
- Crime rate fell by 10%!
- Crime rate only fell by 10%

Biggest type of statistics used
Very persuasive
- 72% of Americans support it
Always scrutinize these:
- Who commissioned the poll?
- Who was surveyed?
- When was the poll made?

Sometimes, you don’t have hard evidence
Use logic to draw conclusions
Includes syllogisms:

All human beings are mortal

Socrates is a human being

Therefore, Socrates is mortal
- I like these, but they’re not always necessary
- Normal logic works well enough usually
Usually, though, we use enthymemes
- These are statements that use shared assumptions
  - “We have to cancel the picnic because it’s going to rain”
    - Assumption that rain is bad, etc.

Arguments can be based on shared values
- Arguments based on equality, fairness
- More enthymemes
- Writers must understand values held by their audiences