 |
| Red skies at sunset |
1. Statistics in Sports (A lot of professional athletes are fed up with dialogue about what constitutes a play among people who have never played the game)
- Historical Connections
Sports have a great deal to do with popular culture. Basketball and soccer are globally recognized sports, whereas baseball, rugby, football all have millions of followers in several countries. Also, athletes have more of a public voice to share their opinions through mediums such as twitter and other forums of social media. Given that the happenings in athletic worlds are discussed among a large contingency of followers, it is well known that there are many athletes who objects to a solely statisitically driven approach to sports.
- Communication Connections
As previously stated, our view into the minds of these athletes is made possible through mediums of communication such as twitter. When athletes want to share more comprehensive and complete view points they often take to The Player's Tribune to do so. Without the current access to social media, we would not be nearly as privy to understanding where athletes stand on certain issues, both related and unrelated to the sport they currently play.
2. Statistics and the Anti-Vax Movement
- Historical Connections
The Anti-Vax movement is connected to the rational world of the Enlightenment and the feeling and imagination of Romanticism. There is a rational approach that those who stand in opposition to the Anti-Vax movement implement to try to show that because history repeats itself, if you are vaccinated you have a high likelihood of staying safe from certain diseases. The Anti-Vax movement uses feeling and imagination to share individual horror stories and portray them as if they are the rule and not the exception
- Communication Connections
I have seen a lot of interesting debates on social media regarding this topic. In a lot of the conversations that I have seen, those in support of vaccinations talk about herd immunity and try to take emotion out of the conversation, whereas those against vaccinations talk about instances where they had a child get sick, or the friend of a friend had a child who was autistic. Those who support vaccinations try to establish their credibility through ethos using government websites in a lot of instances, whereas those who are against vaccinations use a lot of pathos in their arguments.
3. Statistic and the Environment
- Historical Connections
Caring for nature has long been something that people have professed a need for in this world. Even back in the days of the Renaissance people like Leonardo DaVinci would talk about the need for us to live in harmony with our surroundings as opposed to ruining our surroundings for more convenient living situations. During Romanticism there was a push to get back to nature and appreciate the world that you see around you.
- Communication Connections
This topic has been the center of much heated debate in the world today. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez presented the New Green Deal which promptly got shut down. Scientists throughout the world are proclaiming the destruction that will come through climate change if we do not take drastic actions. President Trump tweeted during the polar vortex that obviously global warming is not real to which many people took objection, even with people such as Chris Evans chiming in about what climate change means. There is not a major media outlet that has not had at least one story on climate change in the world today.
I think it is really interesting that history truly does repeat itself and that values that were relevant in the world hundreds of years ago find themselves in our day and age. Arguments are still won or lost by appealing to pathos, logos, or ethos. People 500 years ago were talking about the need to care for the world, and the first vaccination was performed in 1796 for smallpox. Statistics is such an interesting realm of study, because it can truly be applied to whatever you are most interested in.
I think it's particularly interesting that you brought the emotional aspect of anti-vax advocates. In terms of rhetoric, their over appeal to pathos seems to be how they've gained so much traction lately.
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting post. I found especially interesting what you said about anti-vax movements. It makes me think of the push for empiricism during the Enlightenment. I guess if some people can't empirically see for themselves the positive effects of vaccines they won't get them. Also, because we all have emotional ties with nature, do you think there's an element of pathos in the debates about the environment?
ReplyDeleteIn general, redder sunsets are caused by elevated particulate matter levels. Particulate matter emissions accompany carbon dioxide emissions, and particulate matter is composed of rock dust, ash, volcanic ash, and nitrate and sulfate particles derived from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution. A lot of the particulate matter in the atmosphere is anthropogenic in origin.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about how the anti-vas movement relies on emotional rhetoric. It seems to be a case study of a larger trend we see in society where emotion-based arguments trump rational arguments.