Think like a Freak is one of the most revolutionary books by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J Dubner. The writers have blended the art of original analysis and captivating storytelling to help the readers with their thoughts during the process of decision making. Lessons learned in chapter six to chapter nine of the book will impart knowledge on how to think more creatively, more rationally and more productively which is to think like a freak.
The sixth chapter discusses the response of human beings to different forms of incentives, whether financial, moral, herd-mentality or social. A perfect example used in the book is where one of the authors of this book had to use candy as an incentive to convince his daughter to use the toilet.Financial
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Chapter eight narrows down on the methods of persuading people to descent to your thoughts and opinions, and this appears to be much harder than thinking about problems and solving them. Understanding how hard persuasions can be is critical as people have different opinions and views on various life aspects. A vast majority of climatic scientist believe that the world is getting hotter as a result of human activities leading to global warming. However, a more significant number of the American population is not concerned. A group of researchers called the Cultural Cognition Project tried to answer this question and determine the public views on touchy subjects like gun laws and global warming. Persuading the public on such matters was strenuous. Coaxing is hard and appears to be even harder when the individual is educated as they are more dogmatic and confident. It is also essential to view the perception of the argument rather than what is being said because if it does not resonate with the listener, then it does not matter how logically correct and indisputable the case appears (Levitt, Dubner and Kobbe 82-91). An argument should also not be assumed to be perfect as it makes the person who brought it forward to seem unrealistic since they are supposed to be able to acknowledge their opponent's arguments. The party presenting the discussion should also tell a story …show more content…
Most people consider giving up as an act of failure and label an individual who resigns as a loser. On the contrary, the writers argue that if a person is stuck in a situation, be it a mindset or a relationship that is not working, and the opportunity cost seems to outweigh the sunk price, then they ought to think about quitting big. Failure should not be considered as a total loss, but instead, it should be viewed as a means of providing valuable feedback. Winston Churchill, a former British Prime Minister, encouraged students of Harrow Boys Boarding school to never give in to anything. The speech was, however, a contradiction to his life experiences as he quit a lot of times, moved across parties, quit the government and only returned to politics when the policy failure led to all-out war (Levitt, Dubner and Kobbe 92-101). Most people distress from mistakes and failures as it is associated with losers. Students, workers, companies, and even leaders will keep on straining towards a dead end because of the fear of losing. Think like a freak, however, encourages failure, only when the opportunity cost of lapses the dashed cost. Chapter nine reminds economists that failure can be an impermanent holdup and motivates them to learn from their failures and use them as guidelines in tackling life
One ordinary man finds himself standing in a colossal room. He looks into the audience, seeing an overwhelming amount of strangers who each share a slightly different opinion on the subject at hand. How can one individual spark a fire in the minds of such an eclectic group? Al Gore, an American politician and environmentalist, encounters this exact situation. He wishes to spread his message on global warming and inspire the audience to take action. Persuading just one person is an arduous task, but effectively confronting an entire audience requires extensive knowledge on persuasive tactics. The speaker must have a playbook containing an array of rhetorical strategies that are dispersed throughout the entire presentation. The playbook needs
When attempting to convince other to view an issue from a different standpoint, there are multiple different rhetorical strategies that can be utilized in order to effectively do so. In the article “Not by Math Alone,” by Sandra Day O’Connor and Roy Romer, the authors argue that school systems today lack the education needed to prepare students to take part in their government. O’Connor and Romer use a variety of persuasive techniques, including establishing credibility and presenting facts and evidence, to get the audience to see how rare civic learning is and why it is important for students to learn about these things. The authors instill trust in the audience as they provide information from credible sources that supports their purpose.
After reading Failure is Not an Option by Nathan Wallace, we ponder whether failure is beneficial or not. However, after reading the passage, we stumble upon a quote where Wallace says “Failure is always an option. Failure can lead to great learning and progress when a specific failure is analyzed through the lens of a growth mindset.”
Mr. McKibben provides a strong argument call of action for everyone to take action against global warming. But he doesn 't just want action, Mr. Mckibben is demanding action now, and lots of it. Throughout the passage, Meltdown: Running Our of Time on Global Warming, the reader can examine the many ways that McKibben attempts to persuade others to join his movement. When one examines Bill McKibben 's use of rhetoric appeals, persuasive fallacies, and counter augments, A reader can analyze and understand the real claim that the writer is attempting to address.
Many people’s opinions are influenced by political leaders and their beliefs, which can have a negative effect on science’s efforts. Mere word changes have shown to make a difference in people’s willingness to pay for taxes that they don’t necessarily support or are even aware of. The use of storytelling has shown to be a powerful means in communicating science to the public as well. Although education and science understanding are not directly correlated with the acceptance of climate science, there is evidence that shows that a brief explanation of greenhouse effects “enhance acceptance across the political spectrum”. Researching source credibility has also boosted the political acceptance of certain scientific information.
Argumentation has followed humans from the dawn of time as a way for us to express our ideas and for our ideas to be heard. People naturally obtain the knowledge to persuade others, either backing their opinions by fact or touching others emotionally, from growing up and through their own experiences in life. We can be persuaded by a numerous amounts of different factors pertaining to the argument. There are four different types of strategies in which an argument can be presented and make the argument effective. Martin Luther King is a key example of the utilization of the strategies as he wrote, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Nicholas Carr also portrays the strategies with his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Both authors perfectly
Bill McKibben's "The Environmental Issue from Hell" argues that climate change is a real and dire concern for humanity. His essay deals with the methods and persuasive arguments needed to spur American citizens and the government on to change to more eco-friendly choices. The arguments he proposes are based largely upon emotional appeals calling for empathy and shame, and examples of what in our daily lives is adding to the changes we're seeing in the climate.
As we worked our way through the semester we moved from the Change Project to the Public Argument. I was able to look back at how one essay was developed into multiple essays. The type of paper I was writing determined how I was able to persuade my audience. The audience of the papers changed throughout the semester making the way I developed my paper also changed. In one essay I used the sources to persuade the readers towards agreeing with me. In the other essay I used my own words and thoughts to grab the reader’s attention and have them agree with my point of view on the issue. While one essay was a more formal audience and another was more informal the both required persuasion and attention grabbers. One audience was grasped by the use of facts while the other was grasped by talking about experiences and explaining how the topic related to the audience. While the paper was different each paper required some type of persuasion.
However, the purpose of an argumentative essay is not to make others agree with a point of view, but to convince them to acknowledge the validity of an argument and to consider it. Luckily, I realized this in time to write my argumentative essay about the value of public opinions, in which I pointed out that although “some may argue that public statements of opinion are unnecessary because they peer pressure others into thinking a certain way,” the sharing of these opinions “[creates] a society where no opinion is exactly like the next” because people adapt what they hear to “better fit their character (Argumentative Impromptu p. 3&4). This change strengthens my arguments because it convinces my audience that I w...
In the most advantageous of cases this model suggests that a receiver “considers the content of the persuasive message carefully and has favorable thoughts about the content” (Enfante, Rancer & Avtgis, 2010, p. 172). When receivers engage in cognitive thinking, they participate in the type of persuasion the authors call the “central route” (Enfante, Rancer & Avtgis, 2010, p. 172). Under the central route, the receiver employs positive feelings towards whatever the source is saying and then in turn acts or forms attitudes based off of the positive thoughts. Thus they interact thoughtfully with the information the source is attempting to get across.
Failure and learning have a complicated, yet important relationship with each other. In ‘A Nation of Wimps’, Hara Marano writes about how through trial and error humans can become successful. An article by Robert I. Sutton of the Harvard Business Review, talks about a method of learning from failure. Dr. Everett Piper describes in the article ‘This is Not a Day Care’. It’s a ‘University’ that students who do not repent their sins can not learn from them.
Persuasion has been a technique to allow people to do something through the use of reasoning or argument. This technique has been seen in writing, propaganda and many other forms that enforce people to choose a side about issues that they feel strong about. It helps influence people’s beliefs toward an issue and changes their perspectives to agree with the argument. Global warming has been a strong issue in current society; however, the issue itself persuades others with awareness but also allows them to contemplate their perspective and provide actions for it. In the text, Under Water by Kate Sheppard, the authors explains to the readers how United States spends billions of dollars on rebuilding the infrastructure of coastlines that
Winston Churchill once said "Never, never, never give up" and that is precisely what he did. Winston Churchill was an incredible person, and achieved much in his life. He is also my hero, and let me explain why. Winston Churchill is my hero because of his many great achievements, such as leading the Allied Forces to victory, readying the navy for war, and serving in the military. He was a very respectable man, and is more than worthy of being a hero, or at least mine.
“Success id going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” This was said by the late but great Winston Churchill. This quote gives insight to his character by showing that Churchill would persevere through anything. This attitude of never giving up coupled with never being afraid is why we still read about him in history books. It is also what allowed him to lead the great nation of Britain in World War II despite the outlook of victory being slim to none.
The scientific research of persuasion’s procedure has been a fundamental aspect of social psychology since the World War II when the Nazi Party, grace to its propaganda drive, was voted by Germans despite the extreme policy it followed (Cialdini, 2001). In the last 30 years, significant research has been conducted concerning the persuasion process and the way it works (e.g., Cialdini, 2001; Crano & Prislin, 2005; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Sutton and Douglas (2013), suggest that during the persuasion procedure, individuals’ beliefs and perspectives are effectively influenced by new information provoking this way a change in their attitudes. Although many influential techniques have been detected (e.g., Ingratiation, Reciprocity, Lowball tactic etc.) there are various circumstances when even the strongest ones do not succeed (Jacks & Cameron, 2003; Sutton & Douglas, 2013).