Thank You for Arguing: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

One might assume that scientists never use rhetorical tricks like appeals to emotion. But in fact, the format of scientific studies—written in the passive voice—appeals to emotion. By writing in the passive tense, scientists calm the passions and create the illusion that their findings “just happened.” Some advocates of intelligent design use the passive voice to make an emotional appeal: by arguing that atoms and molecules were “designed,” creationists cleverly introduce the idea of a divine creator without explicitly naming this creator. The passive voice, in short, encourages passivity—a great pathos trick.

On the most basic level, the brain works in two systems. System One is passive and runs on autopilot. System Two is rational, and applies skepticism to the evidence. When a speaker makes an argument that the audience dislikes, the speaker should try to appeal to the System One in the audience’s minds, and try to make the audience passive and accepting. In such a situation, it’s important for the speaker to make things very simple. They should also try to make the audience feel powerful, if possible by offering them choices (this technique works well when arguing with someone one-on-one).

Another technique that a rhetorician can use to pacify a hostile audience is humor. Humor can’t really be taught, and should be used sparingly (unless you’re really funny). However, it’s worth understanding different kinds of humor. There’s urbane humor, which appeals to an educated crowd and often relies on wordplay. There’s wit, which isn’t always laugh-out-loud funny, but amuses with its dryness. There’s also facetious humor—humor that’s meant to make you laugh, nothing more (i.e., most jokes). Finally, there’s banter, the style of humor that depends on clever insults and comebacks—for example a “yo mama” competition. Banter exemplifies the importance of concession: one of the best ways to make a snappy comeback is to agree with an opponent’s insult and then turn it against them.

Another technique to diffuse anger is to set a backfire—in other words, apologize for doing something wrong and exaggerate the audience’s own anger. Years ago, when Heinrichs was working for a magazine, he accidentally wrote a story in which he placed Mount St. Helens in Oregon instead of Washington. Instead of waiting for his boss to yell at him, Heinrichs went to see his boss and said he had “very bad news.” His boss replied, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. These things happen.” Backfires should be used carefully, however—“tell someone to kick your ass, and the danger is that they might comply.”