This text number is 4513 and the estimated reading time is 10 minutes.
Reading enriches people and sharing makes people happy. At the end of the article, a mind map is attached to help you sort out the essence of the context in the text. Welcome to read, you are one step closer to knowledge.
The book shared today is Bright Conversations.
Xu Ben, Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Professor of the Department of English at St. Mary's College in California, USA, Adjunct Professor of the Institute for Advanced Study of Social Sciences, Fudan University, is a well-known public intellectual at home and abroad. Mr. Xu Ben has been teaching argumentation and reasoning writing at American University for more than 20 years, and is well versed in the cultivation of expository education. This book is the first systematic exposition of public reasoning in China, written for Chinese readers, especially young readers, and is both practical and humanistic, which can be called an enlightenment book for cultivating effective thinking and learning rational dialogue.
Reasoning is the product of civilization, and people become civilized slowly. Learning to reason is both an educational and self-initiating process. One needs to reason, because reasoning is better than not being able to find what is true and just, and what is true and just is inherently superior to false and unjust, easier to prove and easier to convince. More importantly, man has an innate ability to accept what is true and just, and this ability is "reason."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="88" >01, the nature of reasoning</h1>
Many people take it for granted that in order for others to listen to you, we must stand firm and do everything possible to overwhelm the other side. Persuading others became the only purpose of reasoning. The ancient Greek philosopher Zeno believed that reasoning is like an outstretched palm rather than a clenched fist. We need to spread our palms to welcome others into the conversation and deepen our understanding of each other, rather than clenching our fists, thinking that we are the truth, and forcing others to obey our own opinions.
In the beginning, the main way to resolve the contradiction between the different ethnic groups of mankind was war, and whoever won listened to whomever won. But slowly, people found that the method of resolving contradictions by using force at the first word of disagreement was too expensive to pay, and it was not a last resort to sit down and negotiate first. As a result, people began to try to replace violence with negotiation, learning to achieve a win-win situation in compromise and consensus. Gradually, this rational language behavior formed a civilized order that can be called "reasoning.". Conversely, this habit of reasoning is also an important foundation for the creation of modern civilization.
Therefore, reasoning is to communicate through language, to gain mutual understanding, and then to reach a consensus, to provide a possible solution to the problem of debate. However, since this consensus is decided by mutual consultation, not by any objective criterion or ultimate truth, any conclusions reached from the discussion are temporary and can be put forward and re-discussed. This brings us to another common misconception that we think that discussion or reasoning must be pursued by an ultimate truth, but in fact, the "reason" of reasoning does not refer to the truth, but to the "reason" that supports the conclusion. In an environment of open discussion, the audience can only think and judge accordingly if they provide clear reasons. Therefore, the process of reasoning is as important as the final consensus. So how important is reasoning?
For us personally, reasoning reflects a person's thinking and language skills. Because reasoning requires us to form a relatively complex and exquisite observation and thinking about the things around us. If a person can use rational thinking to express his own opinions, it will not only help him defend his rights in various affairs, but also prompt him to think independently, distinguish the truth and falsity of speech, and prevent him from being instigated and deceived by others. Secondly, choosing to reason is also a way to interact with others. This way of interacting is further a relationship of equality and mutual respect. Good reasoning is not only reflected in language and logic, but also in the respect shown by behavior. Treat the object of reason with an equal attitude, listen carefully to the other party's views and reasons, and then make an appropriate and reasonable response.
Then for society, the more people who know how to reason, the more they can find a way of life that is beneficial to more people in a more rational way, and realize the goal of seeking common ground while reserving differences. Why? First of all, due to the differences in interests and values between different individuals and groups in society, it is inevitable that differences will arise on some matters. At this point, they can seek support by speaking out publicly. What are they going to do?
For example, the American campaign. In the early years, when American developers discovered new territories, they would cut down trees, open farms in vacant lots, build towns, and those political candidates would often ride their horses to new developments one after another to win the support of voters. When they got there, they would often stand on the stumps of the clearings and give their speeches, trying to make them clearly visible to everyone, so that voters would have a basis for judging whether the politician's speech was reliable, reasonable, and whether it could bring a better life to the local people.
Further, there are some accepted criteria for judging whether the speech is reasonable or not, and whether the basis is strong or not. These standards come from the core values of a society, and are also the root of the "reason" of reasoning, such as universal values, constitutions, basic human rights norms, etc. The more reasonable the speech, the more reasonable it is, the more people can naturally be persuaded and won.
Once reasoning becomes the main way for a society to solve problems and decide on affairs, then people have to improve their ability to think and express rationally. In the end, a proposal that people agree on can become a prerequisite for social action, and a view of approval becomes the basis for social consensus. Therefore, reasoning has played a very basic and important role in people's self-governance, jointly creating a good life, and establishing a rational society.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" >02, understand reasoning</h1>
What should you say to make your reasoning more convincing, and then "how to listen" to make you more discerning?
1. Reasoning composition
Reasoning actually has some fixed components, the most important part is the opinion or proposition, which can also be called "the point of controversy". Without a claim, not only does the listener not know what you're trying to say, you may not even know what you're trying to say.
For example, if the current proposition is "we should oppose vulgar culture," the proposition is likely to be an executive order, but it involves interesting choices. Different people will have different views on what is "vulgar", then this is a personal taste. Whether it is appropriate to translate personal interests into executive orders has room for reasoning and needs to be further explored.
With a clear claim, we will naturally think about what reasons should be put forward to support the claim. Reason is the second component of reasoning. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of reasons, one is "evidence", such as facts, authoritative opinions, research results, statistics, etc., and the other is called "appeal", such as the value, belief or idea to which to appeal.
For example, if you advocate population control, you can put forward the results of economic research, historical lessons, etc. as evidence; you can also appeal to certain values, such as self-sacrifice for future generations. If the reasons given are both evidence and appeals, it will make the reasoning more convincing. Conversely, when we oppose a claim, we often refute the reason, and once the reason is untenable, the claim is less reliable.
In addition to reason, there is another part of reasoning that is easy for us to overlook, and this part is called "assurance." The so-called "guarantee" is actually some premise implied in the statement of reasoning, which is not necessarily expressed explicitly.
For example, it has been argued that "women should be able to join the combat force in the same way as men, because the image of women participating in the war helps to eliminate gender bias". There are two unspoken premises: one is that "gender bias is harmful and should be eliminated"; the other is that "women cannot join the combat force is gender bias". Therefore, this proposition can be expressed more clearly as follows: because all gender biases are harmful and should be eliminated, and women's inability to join the combat force is a gender bias, this situation should be changed and women should be included in the combat troops.
This formulation is actually Aristotle's "syllogism" argument. It takes a general principle as a general premise, such as "all gender prejudices are harmful and should be eliminated"; a special statement as a small premise, such as "women cannot join the combat troops is gender bias"; and finally derives a special statement that conforms to the general principle, that is, the conclusion, here, that is, "we should change this harmful situation and let women join the combat troops". Through syllogism, it is easy to see that there are no clearly expressed premises in the view.
But in real life, not all theories can simply be boiled down to this syllogistic logic. Otherwise, reasoning will become very rigid, even into a rigid and dogmatic logical reasoning. Then we need to use another tool, which is the "Turmin argument model".
Turmin was a British philosopher and educator. We have just spoken of the three parts of a reasoned statement, namely the claim, the reason, and the guarantee, while the Turmin model contains six parts: claim, guarantee, argument, support, tone, and rebuttal. Here, we need only remember that syllogism itself embodies a kind of logical reasoning, and it does not matter who the audience of reasoning is and what questions will be raised, which is precisely what Turmin's model of argument is concerned with. For example, it has more "rebuttal" than syllogism, in the hope that we can take into account the questions and rebuttals that the audience may raise in advance and provide explanations.
2. How to say it
So how can you make your reasoning more convincing? There are three important factors that affect the effect of reasoning, namely "logic", "credibility" and "emotion".
Logic is the most important means of persuasion in reasoning. In general, in forms like syllogism, the rules of logic are clear. Once a fallacy occurs, it is easier to identify. But there are some reasoning fallacies that require conscious study and thinking to distinguish them, and they are called "non-formal logical fallacies." The fallacy of non-formal logic always makes people feel that something is wrong, but they can't say what is wrong.
For example, "everyone says so", most people think so, it must be right, sometimes there is no such "everyone", just borrow the mouth of the crowd, just say their own words; for example, "divert the topic", refers to in the process of argumentation, deviate from the topic, turn to other secondary issues, thereby diverting the attention of the audience and so on.
Secondly, credibility, people with good qualities and faith give people a more reliable feeling, and such people are more convincing in their speech. There is a wonderful psychological factor involved here, which is that once people have formed a reliable or unreliable impression, it is generally difficult to change. The Roman historian Tacitus once summed up the effect that "when a department loses credibility, whether it is telling the truth or lying, good or bad, it will be considered a lie and a bad thing", which is also known as the "Tacitus Trap".
Finally, emotions, that is, emotions that mobilize the audience, such as pity, happiness, reverence, love, fear, and even anger. Storytelling is a great way to mobilize emotions, guide the listener to imagine a situation that can be empathetic, and once people are moved, they are more emotionally receptive to your point of view. In addition, you can also use vivid and passionate reasoning methods such as ranking and analogy.
3, how to listen
As an audience, how should we prevent ourselves from being seduced or even deceived? There are four means of public discourse that require vigilance.
First, use vaguely defined words. On the one hand, definitions can eliminate ambiguous statements and focus attention on the key points of the problem; on the other hand, the logic of reasoning often begins with definitions and then gives inferences. In the case of unclear definitions, the process of reasoning may also be full of loopholes.
For example, words like democracy, equality, freedom, etc., have extremely vague meanings, but because they have rich associative meanings, they are particularly infectious, so they have magical powers. Therefore, when we encounter these "big words" in various public discourses, we may as well ask what these big words really mean.
Second, give a simple and straightforward explanation. In life, when we are desperate to solve a problem, many people are accustomed to accepting the simplest and most direct explanations and methods. The simpler and clearer an assertion is and the more evidence is lacking, the more powerful it becomes.
Le Pen, for example, in The Ragtag Crowd, calls the three tactics of "assertion, repetition, and contagion" the recipe for brainwashing and controlling the masses. Religions, politicians, and advertisers are particularly aware of the power of assertion, and by repeating this simple assertion over and over again, making it a slogan and gradually becoming popular, it takes root in people's minds and is even regarded as truth. In order to propagate Nazi thought, Goebbels once reversed black and white, confused right and wrong, put on the cloak of truth for countless lies, and concluded: Repetition is a force, and a lie repeated a thousand times will become the truth. This is known as the "Goebbels effect".
Third, it's called emotional expression. Not only does overly emotional expression not increase the credibility of the reasoner, but once people's emotions are stirred up and put into action, the consequences can be unimaginable.
Fourth, lie boldly. It is not easy for people to believe small lies, but it is easy to believe big lies. Hitler once said, "Ordinary people do not intend to do evil ... They have simple minds... I often lie about small things and am embarrassed to lie about big things. Even if they hear such a big lie, they can't imagine such a big lie."
For example, the Nazis say that the Jews have a conspiracy to rule the world, and who can prove that the Jews do not have such a conspiracy? The difference between big lies and small lies is whether they can be falsified empirically, and what cannot be falsified cannot be judged.