Ronald Reagan's Anchorage Bias

Cognitive biases are tendencies toward distortion that all people are prone to. There are many biases that we use in today’s society. One cognitive bias that affects your decision is the anchorage bias. This is bias that affects all people, even if you don’t realize it. The anchorage bias, or the relativity trap, is when people are over-reliant on the first piece of information they hear or receive. Using this bias as a tool of persuading someone, will expedite the decision making process between two people. One of the main problems with the anchorage bias is that just because the decision is made quickly, doesn’t mean the decision is right. Anchorage can also lead to tunnel vision, or only focusing on one thing and not paying attention to

In rhetoric, it is a means of convincing someone of a certain character’s credibility of the persuader. Out of the other two principle of persuasion, pathos and logos, you need to establish ethos from the start in order to have a strong effect in persuading someone. This concept is the brainchild of Aristotle and is used by many historical figures to gain fellowship and recognition. A historical figure that uses ethos throughout his speeches was Ronald Reagan. He served as the 40th United States President from 1981 to 1989. In one of his more notable speeches, the Challenger speech, he uses ethos to assure the American people. He used this principle of persuasion to assure the society that the quest to get to space is not over despite the tragedy that took place. This speech was important because it shows our strength as a society in trying times. This shows our resolve and how these types of situations will not stop us, like

This specific canon of rhetoric is used for the discovery of arguments. The maxim “good news doeth good like medicine” is a statement that could apply to anyone. Good news, no matter how miniscule it is, is good for your body, like medicine is. Getting a good grade on your driving road test, will instantly brighten your day. The maxim “forgiveness is the noblest revenge” is a statement that is told to people who are going through traumatic experiences. This statement means the forgiving someone can be hard, but by doing so, that gives you the upper hand. Once you forgive, you won and that is the best revenge. Having a boyfriend cheat on you with your best friend could be a devastating situation to go through. By forgiving them, you win and they are not empowered by your agony. Not one person can go outside without seeing multiple variations of the maxim “no pains no gains”. This statement means that without going through a painful period of your life, you will not reap the benefits in the end. An example of that is when someone is training for the Olympics. A person goes through years of grueling workouts and painful injury. They go through those experiences to reap the benefit of going to the Olympics and possibly get a