Rhetoric and Argumentation Flashcards
Bias
A tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others, which often results in treating some people unfairly
Explicit Bias
Refers to the attitudes and beliefs (positive or negative) that we consciously or deliberately hold and express about a person or group. Explicit and implicit biases can sometimes contradict each other.
Implicit Bias
Includes attitudes and beliefs (positive or negative) about other people, ideas, issues, or institutions that occur outside of our conscious awareness and control, which affect our opinions and behavior. Everyone has implicit biases – even people who try to remain objective
Confirmation Bias
“Selective collection of evidence”
This is our subconscious tendency to seek and interpret information and other evidence in ways that affirm our existing beliefs, ideas, expectations, and/or hypotheses. Therefore, confirmation bias is both affected by and feeds our implicit biases. It can be more entrenched around beliefs and ideas that we are strongly attached to that provoke a strong emotional response.
Selective Perception
The tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause emotional discomfort and contradict our prior beliefs
Anchoring fallacy
Favoring a viewpoint or piece of information simply because it is the first one we encounter, and thereby what we measure every new piece of information against.
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Committing time, resources, and effort toward something or someone just because we’ve already invested so much into it, even if it’s not in our best interest.
Backfire Effect
When a strongly held belief or opinion is confronted with evidence that contradicts it, you not only disregard that evidence but turn it into further ‘proof’ that you’re right and thereby dig their heels in even deeper.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to assume other people’s actions are the result of their personality, while yours are the result of the circumstances of the situation
Curse of Knowledge
Incorrectly assuming that the person we are communicating with knows as much as we do about a topic. Once we know something, it’s difficult to imagine not knowing it, and so it now seems totally obvious
Declinism
The belief that a society or institution is tending towards decline – idealizing the bygone past, viewing the problems we currently face as somehow unique and worse than what generations previously dealt with, and assuming the worst is yet to come to
Declinism
The belief that a society or institution is tending towards decline – idealizing the bygone past, viewing the problems we currently face as somehow unique and worse than what generations previously dealt with, and assuming the worst is yet to come to
Clustering Effect
Seeing a pattern or correlation in events that are not actually related
Premise
A proposition/assumption upon which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn
Ethos
Building trust
Where you got the information
How you talk to the audience
Establishing common ground
Logos
Established facts and statistics based on large, diverse sets of data
Appeal to logic and reasoning
Ad hominem
Attacking the person instead of their argument
Bandwagon Appeal
Argues that a belief or action is valid because the majority agrees
Ex: many companies and stores are removing gluten from their products, so gluten must be unhealthy
Begging the question
Assumes the initial premise is true when it is open to question
Often takes the form of a question whereby the question itself is based on a questionable assumption.
Ex: why won’t the government force companies to label genetically modified ingredients in their products?
False Analogy
Drawing a comparison between two things or situations that are not similar enough to draw a similar conclusion
Ex: guns are like hammers - they are both tools
Appeal to Ignorance
Claims that something is true because it has not yet been proven false (or cannot be proven false)
Premised on what we do know and can prove
Ex: we don’t know what the long-term negative effects of the covid vaccine may be, so it’s safer not to risk getting one
Ad Populum
When a certain action or belief will result in being labeled as something desirable/popular within a group or carries the threat of being labeled as something unpopular by the group
Ex: only a communist would support Universal Healthcare.
Appeal to doubtful authority
When someone with no expertise on an issue is cited as an authority (usually because they’re famous)
Ex: I saw on Oprah that she’s switching to a vegan diet so I will too.
Appeal to Tradition
Argues that a belief, action, or system is inherently good or unavoidable simply because it ‘has always been this way’
Ex. there have always been rich and poor people in society, so income equality is an impossible goal
