It is, however, the part of the equation least susceptible to abuse by those who want other people to act in an unwise fashion. A strong ethos or pathos could c

It is, however, the part of the equation least susceptible to abuse by those who want other people to act in an unwise fashion. A strong ethos or pathos could convince people to do something that a moment of thought would draw them strongly against. The original author is right that logical arguments alone do not persuade people in general, especially if that is all the persuader offers. I am not yet thirty, and have figured this out, so I guess I'm ahead. :-) However, I think it is tragic that logical arguments are not sufficient, nor even sometimes necessary for people to follow a particular philosophy or call to action. I don't understand the cause behind this behavior, but I can't imagine humankind being any worse off if people became more convinced that logic and reasoning do matter, and using them had concrete benefits. Ironically, making this appeal will likely involve the other two until acceptance of logic is sufficiently bootstrapped. I'll leave this with a quote from Sam Harris, which really put better words to this than I ever could. "There is no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable."