As people debate about issues, it is so often a trap to start attacking people personally, rather than challenge one another with ideas and facts and questions. A large part of the problem with the political discourse in this country is people’s acceptance of the idea that mudslinging is okay. But I think there is more to it than that!
It is all too common for people to make up facts that sound good without spending time going over the details that support their assertions. Part of it is laziness, and another part of it is lack of education. While I didn’t finish college, I had a great English teacher, as well as a great Logic professor, and in both cases they insisted that I supported my assertions with supporting details. When we take the time to go over details ourselves, we are that much more educated about the very issues that we make statements about.
First, from a writing perspective, most English teachers will tell you there important elements to writing. Paragraphs should contain an introductory statement that tells the reader what the paragraph will be discussing. Then the there should be sentences with supporting details. And of course at the end we have sentence that summarizes or “brings together” the details. It might even be a “lead in” to the next paragraph.
It is all too common for people to make up facts that sound good without spending time going over the details that support their assertions. Part of it is laziness, and another part of it is lack of education. While I didn’t finish college, I had a great English teacher, as well as a great Logic professor, and in both cases they insisted that I supported my assertions with supporting details. When we take the time to go over details ourselves, we are that much more educated about the very issues that we make statements about.
First, from a writing perspective, most English teachers will tell you there important elements to writing. Paragraphs should contain an introductory statement that tells the reader what the paragraph will be discussing. Then the there should be sentences with supporting details. And of course at the end we have sentence that summarizes or “brings together” the details. It might even be a “lead in” to the next paragraph.
Then we have the area of Logic. There are so many fallacies that are published online and in the media that are so easily apparent to the student of logic. For example, “Because the deficit is so high, we must be spending too much.” This is a hasty generalization that fails to consider all the facts like revenue, and what is being spent, and what parts of spending increased or decreased. There are many other forms of fallacy worthy of careful study.The wonderful thing about the internet is we can fill the void where our education is lacking. If we want to improve our writing style there are many great sites to help us do that. With a combination of excellent writing, and well considered logic, our words become more powerful, and the time spent writing is all that much more worthwhile.
Best wishes to all!