Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Chapter 1 Discussion Question 2
2. I find myself disagreeing with the Greeks belief that in order to be an orator an individual had to be morally good. Moral goodness and the ability to speak on a subject in front of an audience are two separate acts. Now a very persuasive speaker may come off when speaking as a morally good person but in reality they are really just a persuasive speaker who is good at making others believe in what they have to say. A car salesman may be a wonderful orator, trying to convince you that you need a car you can’t afford. So you fall for it and you buy the car because the salesman seems like such a nice guy. He has a family to care for and he wants you to be safe out on the dangerous roads so he persuades you to buy that huge SUV rather than the Geo Metro which was forty thousand dollars less. You are now convinced that for the safety of you and your family you must have this unaffordable beast of a vehicle. He prayed on your emotions, with his story of his sick child at home and how it has been so slow that he may lose his job. You were persuaded by the character of the person to believe he was honest, when you were being lied to hook, line and sinker. An orator can be a person who has no morals, but has the character ability to make you believe they do. Many great orators include politicians, some of whom are the greatest persuaders of all. The connection between goodness, truth and public communication is one of the greatest non connections of all. As a public we would like to believe that we can connect goodness, truth and public communication because it brings a sense of security to know that we can let our guard down and not have to worry. But what we believe to be the truth may be the biggest lie of all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with you on this one. A study on CNN two weeks ago said that the average American makes two to three lies every ten minutes when talking to a person. This can be as little as stretching the truth to make something sound more interesting. A good Orator i believe does not need to be good because sometimes people are looking out for their best interest like you said a car salesman or an advertisement selling ones product. It would be best that the Orator was morally good but we have come a long way in communication to where we cant tell whats completly the truth anymore. Many people have a sense of direction when communicating and it is to please other people and make them happy. When i hear a person trying to sell me a product or tell me a story i tend to trust what they are saying until i have proof to think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote my answer my beliefs where opposite of yours, but I love your answer and Ive changed my mind on what I think I agree with you. People will always twists things to get their own benefits like your care salesman example. Orators will do the same thing because they are looking for the same advantages. In a way I would think moral goodness has a level then in orators. Like your car salesman idea he isn't really lying about the SUV's safety component and comfort, he is just pushing it up and making it be important to you.
ReplyDeleteHi Capone's Mom, I thought I would respond to your post since you responded to mine. First I have to say Capone is adorable and I can see why you are such a proud mom.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your post I was happy to see that someone else disagreed. The power of persuasion is strong and can be used for good and evil. I happened to use an extreme example of evil but I was glad to see that someone understood my point.
Although I went to the extreme your example is so true. I have experience salespeople trying to persuade me to upgrade or purchase an accessory that I dont need many times.
It was cool to see that one of your comments stated that they posted that they agreed and after reading your post also so it intrepreted in a different way. I think that is the best part about online courses, we get to see other interpretations that we may not have thought of.
Also, a sharks fan and was at the same game you went to with tickets from my husband's boss. Go Sharks.