Welcome to The Door to E. A series-style newsletter for people obsessed with exploring, explaining, and expanding ideas to unlock human potential. Each week, I publish around 3 chosen series that share ideas, experiences, and stories to help you design your life.
This essay is a part of the Mental Model Wednesday series.
Thank you for reading, and please forward this to anyone who you think needs to walk on the journey.
Hey Friends, Seekers, and Everyone else
In the world I live in, persuasion occupies a strong position in the creator skill trinity. But it's not something new to the world either.
Persuasion is just a part of the larger concept called Rhetoric and without all the bells and whistles... rhetoric is just a form of communication used to persuade, inform, or motivate the reader or the listener.
What's the point of knowing this?
As you may or may not have realized, human beings are gullible and suggestible creatures. You could say something that isn't true , but claim it as being true with an authoritative tone and enough evidence that supports that claim, and soon enough people will accept that truth.
That's also one of the dangers of using data to prove a point.
“Data is like garbage. You’d better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it.”
~ Mark Twain
And to a large extent, this is true.
You give enough evidence to the brain, and it can turn turn the tables on truth. You and I see that happen a lot in law, politics, & advertising.
You are being persuaded and coerced into taking action every day, without even realizing it
If you examine it closely, as I will here, you'll realize what Plato said was absolutely true
Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of me
The Rhetorical Triangle or the Artistic Proof
This triangle of persuasion is largely composed of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos... each representing two aspects of persuasion.
Ethos is focused on credibility and ethics
Pathos puts emotions & feelings into play
Logos strengthens the argument with logic and reasoning
All of this starts with learning about people. Any online writer or online business owner would know this, but to win the online brand game you need to know
who are the people you are trying to serve?
what makes them tick?
what are their desires?
what do they value?
You need to know yourself and your audience enough to match your message and arguments with the voices in their head to make things convincing.
Ethos - the trust builder
The entire premise of ethos revolves around "how well you can shape your credibility in the eyes of people?" i.e. Why should they listen to you?
You see this happen all the time where in ads, a toothbrush is advertised by a doctor, celebrities are sportswear ambassadors, or companies being promoted by multimillionaires.
You either claim be credible by a title (doctor, lawyer or engineer) or some credible claims you are credible (I'll show you how this works in a second). It is also the reason why people cared about job titles and which schools they been educated from until the "skill market" overtook the "credential market" .
When I write these letters, I claim to be a seeker, that is my unquantifiable credibility, but it is true for me because no one taught me to be curious, no one told me to choose knowledge, no one told me to write online... I claim that title because that is what I intend to do.
Similarly, if you can craft an identity backed by circumstances and evidence you can generate your credibility and build your authority yourself.
The most amazing case for this is the British television series DOCTOR WHO... where the protagonist "THE DOCTOR" claims that he chooses to call himself the DOCTOR despite having a given name.
My name, my real name. That is not the point. The name I chose is the Doctor. The name you choose it's like, it's like a promise you make.
~ THE DOCTOR
The name/title you choose for yourself a is a promise. A promise to yourself and a promise to people who would want to do stuff that you do.
It also builds up a rapport with the audience and tells them what they can expect out of you. Coincidently, this is a huge part of identity marketing and category design which ties in with the second point of the rhetorical triangle... Pathos.
Pathos - the connection builder
Pathos encompasses terms like empathy and sympathy. Because the Greek translation for Pathos is "Suffering" or "Experience". Great storytellers put a lot of time and effort into studying emotions and people.
Humans are emotional, there is no way around it. And sometimes emotions impede judgment, which is precisely why they are used to strengthen arguments, connect to people, and build an organization.
NGOs thrive because the founder had someone who experienced something terrible
or
Coca-Cola sells more because they identify with the feeling of happiness and being cool
The moment you add emotional appeal in your argument through stories or events, the human mind tends to sway away from cold hard logic and authority.
This is partly the reason why so many founders and personal brands put out their origin stories for the world to read. It is also why stories like SPIDER-MAN, DOCTOR WHO, DAVID AND GOLIATH, and JACK AND THE BEANSTALK tend to hit you in the feels, you become emotionally involved in the character by seeing their hardships and you want your hero to win.
A more real example of this is what happens in a court hearing, where a prosecutor mounts his arguments against a panel of jury, but instead of listing out all the laws that are broken, they tell the story of what has transpired and to whom, making the jury emotionally invested in the person and not the case itself.
But the only way you can completely persuade and strengthen an argument is by adding LOGIC. Why did you do what you did? And that leads us to last part of the triangle.
Logos - the momentum builder
Here's a scenario I invite you to consider
I'll say:
Generalists are better than specialists.
Not a very strong argument, right? That's because there is nothing to support it, as it stands, this is just a statement.
But what if I say:
Leonardo da Vinci and Elon Musk excel in our ever-changing world. Da Vinci's diverse skills led to groundbreaking discoveries, while Musk's multidisciplinary approach fuels innovation in technology, energy, and transportation. In contrast, specialists risk becoming too narrowly focused. Generalists offer adaptability, versatility, and a broader perspective, making them better suited for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in today's interconnected society. And that's why Generalists are better than specialist.
Now what do you think? It's much stronger, right?
The argument stands firm because
Ethos - you get credibility because of big names like Leonardo da Vinci and Elon Musk
Pathos - when you tell what they did for the world, you feel inspired and motivated
But the groundbreaker is... Logos, which tends to be logical reasoning. The moment you give a reason for your statement... the WHY behind your statement, it becomes an argument.
However, people can sense when you try to shove something in their heads, so it’s way more effective if you can make someone realize your argument rather than persuade them.
Aristotle says that it is much better and more effective to encourage your audience to reach the conclusion of the argument before you give your answer. It makes them feel clever.
Logos is central to the pursuit of truth and the development of any rational argument. And so here are three ways in which logos is used according to philosophy:
Deductive reasoning - Backing up a generalized statement with a specific scenario
- Eg. Making your online business plan to reach $5M in ARR.
Inductive reasoning - Making a generalized conclusion based on a specific scenario
Eg. Deciding on making a product based on an audience survey
Logical Argumentation - This is a form of reasoning that attempts to establish the truth of one claim (conclusion) by assuming the truth of evidence from other claims (premise).
Eg. If A=B, and B=C, then A=C
Final Words
Anything that has to sell or take place in someone's mind, needs rhetoric to back things up. And it's not as if you can use only one of these and succeed, these three modes of persuasion fall flat on their own.
It works insanely well when you create an argument, sprinkle it with ethos, pathos, and logos, and tie it with the psychology of the people, you can create an insanely effective and influential argument.
Now here's a fun bit, go back to this letter and find how I've used rhetoric.
That's it for today
until next time
Be weird and curiosity
S
P.S. If you are interested in info products and building an information-led creator business, check out Wide Thinker Letters. Series issues go out every Sunday.
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