In Chapter 7 of Epstein’s Critical thinking, I think the most interesting concept was that of “ridicule.”
It’s common, it’s rude, and hence, it’s most definitely ridiculous. In every day conversation, you hear ridicule all the time. Especially from older brothers like mine. The other day we were at a Fuddruckers and I said, “Man I don’t know if I should order a salad, the Works, or with onion rings or...”--And I kind of continued for a while--”They all sound pretty good.”
This is when he says, “Well shoot, you may as well just order the whole menu.”
For one thing, ridicule isn’t even an argument.
In fact, the text explains that ridicule is “a worthless device: it ends arguments, belittles the other person, and makes enemies.” It’s crazy how typical a concept such as ridicule is in normal/rational discussion, but how useless it is when explained in context. It didn’t even help me decide what to order.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Chapter 7: Fuddruckers edition.
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I know what you mean about ridicule is a worthless thing! It does not get you anywhere. All it does is to make people feel bad and not even want to talk to you and it also makes you look bad! I feel that people use ridicule because they can’t come up with anything better. It should never be used as an argument because it just gets things nowhere and ends the argument on a negative note. This is really common with high school students and college students because they think it’s funny. Ridicule is a funny little tool that does no good. Oh and on a side note I love Fuddruckers!
ReplyDeleteIt is nice that you touched upon this in your blog because this bad refutation for an argument is very common. Ridicule makes people feel bad about themselves all the time, and it does not offer up any insightful solutions for arguments. Overall, it makes the person using ridicule seem discreditable and usually hurts the other parties involved. No one wins. Sometimes a little teasing can be funny though, but it has to be at an appropriate setting with someone who you have a comfortable rapport with. I do not like hurting people's feelings in general, so I just try to avoid it completely.
ReplyDelete-Manda756
I really liked this blog. I think alot of people nowadays are super rude and they don't even consider what they're saying is ridiculous! It's like.. after they say some rude comment, how are you supposed to respond to it? I like your fuddrucker's example because I can definitely relate to it. I think a lot of us end up asking people what to get when we're indecisive. But of course, the person who you are with.. if they're annoyed of you, they would probably say something rude (like your brother). At the same time, it's hard to choose when there's so much yummy food waiting for you! I personally don't like to be rude so I just mostly let the person take their time and decide what they want before I say anything rude. Great job on this post :)
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