Tag Archives: persuasion

Reading: Why are people who cite videos always wrong? From Techcrunch

From Why are people who cite videos always wrong? From Techcrunch

Observed.

It’s not an inherent law of the universe that if you have to cite a 30-minute video, it means you don’t actually have any cogent arguments. But it does seem to be a law of the Internet. Perhaps that’s for the best, though; it means when the deepfakes arrive en masse, we — or, at least, the critical thinkers among us — will be suspicious already. Let’s hope automatic skepticism of videos spreads before then.

My guess is that the citer is passing on the video because they found it persuasive (it’s usually accompanied with, “You have to watch the whole thing!”), not because it would persuade anyone else or because it illustrates some significant point to consider. It’s a litmus test for community: “I was persuaded by this! You should be too.” I would also suggest that the citer would not claim the video was “persuasive” (they wouldn’t use that term) but “the truth.” At that point, bring in McLuhan. There’s a dissertation lurking here.

What I’m reading 13 Aug 2017

What I’m reading 17 Jul 2017 through 25 Jul 2017

  • Here and now – Thinking … I’ll get back to you on it. – (none)
  • Trumpcare Collapsed Because Republicans Cannot Govern – Republican ideology doesn't admit support for health care. It's not conservatism. It's Republicanism.

    > In truth, it was never possible to reconcile public standards for a humane health-care system with conservative ideology. In a pure market system, access to medical care will be unaffordable for a huge share of the public. Giving them access to quality care means mobilizing government power to redistribute resources, either through direct tax and transfers or through regulations that raise costs for the healthy and lower them for the sick. Obamacare uses both methods, and both are utterly repugnant and unacceptable to movement conservatives. That commitment to abstract anti-government dogma, without any concern for the practical impact, is the quality that makes the Republican Party unlike right-of-center governing parties in any other democracy. In no other country would a conservative party develop a plan for health care that every major industry stakeholder calls completely unworkable.

    > The power to destroy remains within the Republican Party’s capacity. The power to translate its ideological principles into practical government is utterly beyond its reach. – (ideology rhetoric politics )

  • Defense of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop offers case study on how to sell snake oil | Ars Technica – A catalogue of some of the rhetorical moves on Goop. – (ecommerce erhetoric snakeoil persuasion )

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