Today’s lesson focuses on the bad types of arguments, in particular, emotional arguments. These are the notes I took.
Bad argument types
- The same basic structure as an argument (premises followed by a conclusion)
- Emotional arguments
- It can lead us to poor conclusions
-e.g. I feel angry about joblessness, therefore, X party should be voted out. - If I feel X then Y is true. Therefore Y is true
-This is the basic structure for an emotional argument
Emotional intelligence
- More important to a person’s success than degrees, test scores, etc.
- You deal with people every day
- Recognizing your emotions and other people’s emotions
- Understanding others’ emotions without misinterpreting them
- Control over your own emotions
- Being able to intervene properly
- Not getting angry when someone is angry at you.
Emotional contagion
- If A is angry then you should be angry
-The news media does this well, e.g. if all the major news outlets are outraged then the majority of viewers will also feel outraged - A survival mechanism. We are social mammals and it’s innate in us to agree with the majority of a group to prevent fighting
- It can be a form of groupthink
- Not always a bad thing
-Happiness is contagious in places of worship
-Can be used to defuse a situation - If you’re angry, you believe X, therefore, you should believe X.
- Projecting emotions
Use emotions where appropriate
- Just because you’re angry is not by itself a reason to compel others to do something
- Does that mean never get emotional? No, it can be reasonable
- There are cases where you want to be angry
- It’s a delicate balance
- If you’re angry at one thing it can cloud judgment in other things
-e.g. During the 2012 elections, Democrats transferred anger for Bush to John McCain so that people would vote for Obama.
Drawing bad conclusions due to misinterpreting emotions
- Getting angry at someone for not making eye contact and thinking it was disrespect
- Refusing to shake hands due to cultural differences but misinterpreting it as rudeness
- In certain cases, someone might be autistic and can’t read emotions so they respond in a way which could be misinterpreted as callous or inappropriate.
Scapegoating
- Unfairly blaming someone for a problem but no good reason to get people to do something
Advertising and fear examples
- If you don’t use deodorant you’ll stink and nobody will like you
- You need to cover up your imperfections with makeup
Politicians excel in manipulating emotions
- Envy can motivate you to despise the rich and famous
- e.g. justify robbing the rich to pay for living expenses of the poor
- Pride – you deserve X because you need it more than Y