Chapter 8 in Epstein's book was all about general claims. Two important topics that were discussed in this chapter included both precise generalities and vague generalities. These two topics basically help you find a good/bad or a strong/weak argument hich is important in communication. Lets start with vague generalities. These generalities use words such as most,all, and most rather then using specific numbers or statistics when referring to a group of something.
Ex. Almost all wealthy people have a college degree. Bill Gates is wealthy. So Bill Gates has a collegr degree. This is false because he does not have a degree and thr term almost all could be misleading because it doesnt show the exact number which would be a lot more specific.
Precise generalities use precise numbers or statistics when referring to a group of something.
Ex. 96% give or take 1% of all gamblers get into some sort of trouble when they first start. I am a gambler. So i got into some sort of trouble when i started out gambling. This is a good strong argument because 96% is a huge number and most like i fall into that category. Using a precise generality is good because it can reinforce your argument and make it strong. Dont use vague generalitiea unless you have to. They can make things seem more or less important than they really are.
No comments:
Post a Comment