Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Let’s start off with a quick review of a fallacy we covered earlier here in Season 1, Personification. Personification is when you give a broader range of human characteristics to an inanimate object or animal. This fallacy is also sometimes called Anthropomorphism. This one is super similar to the Pathetic Fallacy, so definitely go check out this episode to learn the difference between the two.
The question to ask yourself with personification is this: “Is the action really coming from that object or is there someone else behind it?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, check out Episode 67.
Ok, today we are continuing our conversation about how to argue & debate well. In the last two episodes, I gave you the first two ways to do that: Learn both sides of the issue, and have credible evidence. Today, let’s dive into the 3rd way to argue & debate well:
3. It’s ok to argue values, but it doesn’t usually work to argue feelings. There’s another type of debate called Lincoln-Douglas, where they’re not arguing policy, like we talked about in the last episode, but they’re arguing values. Let me start by telling you what I mean by a Value. Values are something good & virtuous that’s worth believing in or defending, like the value of beauty, of life, of cultural relevance, of safety, just as a few examples. When you’re debating something, it’s absolutely ok to argue specific values, as long as those values are backed by truth. Values matter…they may not all matter equally, but they do matter.
Now, where you have to be careful is you have to make sure it doesn’t migrate over into arguing feelings. So many people today believe that they have the right to feel a certain way and that it’s society’s job to ensure they feel that way. Newsflash: it’s not. The world isn’t responsible for your feelings, you are, so arguing feelings is going to be way too subjective. Remember, we said we’re working on arguing & debating WELL! Any old person can get into an argument about their feelings but that doesn’t mean it’s a good debate! And arguing from feelings usually leads to those feelings taking over and when we get overly-emotional, we get dumber. And I’m not saying that to be mean, it’s a super interesting physiological fact that has to do with the way our brains are wired.
I’ll note the book in the show notes where it talks about this, but basically, the more emotional we get, the less our brains are able to think clearly. Interesting, huh? Have you ever seen someone get so emotionally charged taht they get completely hijacked by their emotions and all rational conversation ends? Yes, it happens. It’s happened to me! This is just how our brains are wired, it doesn’t make us bad. But, we can’t debate WELL from that state. We have to wait for some of the emotion to subside for our rational brain to get back in charge again, and I’ll let you in on a little tip: the fastest way to start getting your rational brain back in charge is to ask a question! Seriously, ask yourself a question, like what color are the walls in the room? Or do some math…do your multiplication tables in your mind. It sounds silly, but it’ll help get your rational brain engaged again! Anyway, I’m not going to go into depth on that, so let me bring it back to point number 3.
There is a difference between a Value and a Feeling. A Value is something you can believe in, a feeling is an emotion that comes & goes. Work to identify the value behind your argument and argue the value.
Let’s again use the example where you’re debating with your parents that you should be allowed to get a dog. Think about some of the values that could be involved in getting a dog: It could be companionship, responsibility, happiness & joy. Let’s say the value you might pick is responsibility. You could focus on all the ways getting a dog will help you learn & develop responsibility as an argument for getting the dog.
Ok, that’s it for part 3 in this little series on how to argue & debate and do it well. I have 2 more to give you, and I’ll give you number 4 in the next episode.
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
