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I think they must think it elevates their discourse, as if appealing to emotion at all sullies them. While there is a reassuring sobriety to cold, rational thou
by michrassena 8y ago
I think they must think it elevates their discourse, as if appealing to emotion at all sullies them. While there is a reassuring sobriety to cold, rational thought, in itself it often doesn't motivate me to care. It's only really effective in preaching to the choir because they've chosen to hobble themselves by using only a third of the tools available to rhetoric. There are ways to rationally appeal to people's sense of ethics and to the full range of human emotions without descending into demagoguery.
- Anderkent 8y agoIf your goal is to convince other people of what you believe, all of those sound useful. If your goal is to be convince if you're right, and be convinced if you're aren't, they become less so.
- emodendroket 8y ago> It's only really effective in preaching to the choir because they've chosen to hobble themselves by using only a third of the tools available to rhetoric. There are multiple audiences and many will reject emotional appeals out of hand. Certainly if you oppose New Urbanism, a guy ranting about how you're a racist is unlikely to change your mind.