Arguments are all around us, when we talk to people about where we want to eat, what we want to do, or why we should do something. It is impossible to avoid the ubiquitous nature of arguments because they are in every facet of your life, from your day to day interactions to how policy makers decide what bills should be talked about, passed, or rejected. Argumentation plays a major part in each of our lives no matter if you choose to recognize it or not. Choosing an argument that is bothering you is important but ask yourself if it is worth arguing about. Ask yourself if the topic that you are going to discuss is relevant and significant. If it is, make sure to think about the perspective your opposition may take on the topic and the angle that they’re coming from. This will allow you to strengthen your argument if you can disprove their idea with evidence from facts and values. Another big component to argumentation is to look at the cost and risk of your argument. What are you willing to lose from the argument: a friendship, money, nothing? Depending on what you are willing to lose will help you decide how far you want to argue your point, if you want a certain outcome, you need to think about what you are willing to stake. In addition, the risk of your argument can also play a big role in the outcome, think about the worst case scenario, and ask decide if you are okay with it. Arguments are everywhere and come in many shapes and forms in our lives and, it is important we are aware of how to analyze and critique them as well as defend our own.
Chapter five focuses primarily on identifying and developing propositions for problems that people think are relevant. It goes over 6 steps for choosing a valid proposition based on a perceived “feeling of doubt.” While all six steps may not be necessary, the collectively ensure a well thought out and firm proposition. The six steps include identifying the question, surveying implicated objectives (or understanding what is the goal accomplishment in regard to the question), searching for new information, considering alternative options, considering costs and risks of each potential proposition, and then finally choosing one of the propositions. The authors then go on to talk about analyzing and strengthening the proposition chosen. This includes identification and ranking of the issues that the proposition addresses as well as understanding how the decision makers will react to these issues and propositions. In general, with all these methods of critically analyzing the proposition, ...
Overall, I really enjoyed your blog post and found it to expand upon the content in chapter 5 in a very relatable way. I agree that arguments are all around us and in various manners as it feels like every day I am either engaging or listening to an argument. I found your comment of evaluating whether an argument is worth it to be interesting because sometimes it feels that people stating arguments are just arguing to argue rather than fully evaluating what they are defending and its importance. Also, I agree with you that the arguer should consider the perspective of the oppose in order to counter them with evidence. Finally, I found your comment on considering the worst possible outcome and deciding from there whether or not to proceed with the argument to be very good advice because often times people speak without thinking about the repercussions first and can end up ruining very meaningful relationships in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was really insightful. I too mentioned in mine that it's important to process whether or not the argument is worth fighting over. There are times when I will hear people arguing or see arguments occurring over something that isn't even worth arguing over. Which is why every time I am about to make an argument against someone or something I wait 24 hours to 'cool down' and then I ask myself, "is this still relevant? is it still worth me bringing up? " and if I can still answer yes, then I will approach the situation. Because sometimes when things happen, if people don't wait to 'cool down', things can get out of hand. Also, sometimes you can get heated over something and then later realize it wasn't that big of a deal. SO I love the 24 hour rule. I agree with what you said about how much arguing plays a role in peoples lives. I've never really looked at it as common, but you're right.. arguments are happening all around us everyday, whether we choose to awknowledge it or not. Overall, I believe your post to be very insightful as well as relatable which is always important.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way how you simplify the concepts from the textbook and explain their corresponding situations in our daily lives. I agree with you that arguments are exist in our every facet of life, and it is necessary to think about whether it is worth arguing a certain topic. Nobody wants to argue with others about many events all day long, since the process of coming up with good arguments and noticing the opposition perspective can take up plenty of time and energy. Moreover, just like you mention in the blog, we should definitely look at the cost of the arguments because we might put our relationship, money, reputation or even mood on a risk. It reminds me of my friends had a huge fight with her friend because of different politics positions, they knew each other pretty well and became friend for about a year, but my roommate blocked him on her social media in the end, which shows her attitude towards the different importance of this relationship and her politics idea.
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