Please enter a 150-word summary and a 150-word response as a comment to this post. Your summary/response can address any of the questions below or more:
- What did you learn?
- Can you share a personal experience that supports or challenges the author’s statements.
- Do you have other pieces of information that connect in some way to the authors claims?
- How is what you learned related to our class, your other classes, your future job, other areas of life, and/or our major assignments?
Be sure to read closely, highlighting key passages and taking notes about your thoughts and reactions. Use the Reading and Annotating Guide to prepare a thorough summary/response.
Chapter 6 of the textbook “evidence” covers the subject of evidence and how you should navigate, obtain, and interpret it. The chapter starts with a telling of the accusations relating to Napoleon’s death. The chapter shows that all accusations contained portions of the truth that were supported by the evidence at the time but that the most possible explanation was not obtained until all of the different perspectives were brought together. The text then goes on to establish different forms of evidence and the sources behind said evidence. The text covers the various domains associated with online websites and what they tend to represent and then goes on to explain how you can use the evidence you obtain within your argument. The text also covers how to deem the credibility of the evidence that you obtain. The text also covers niche aspects of evidence such as that of satire and how satire can still provide value, but that you need to use a level of caution when utilizing it.
One aspect that I disagreed with the text on was the statement that “only experts can use phrases as I think, I feel or I believe as they have the qualifications that allow you to accept their observations”. I don’t believe this is a useful rule to abide by anyone can discover anything and anyone can contribute. You do not necessarily need to be an expert in a subject matter for your observations to hold value. For example, over the summer I assisted in the completion of the budget for a building. An observation I shared was that over 7 weeks I had been there to that point we saw a noticeable decrease in occupancy on Friday therefore I think it would be a good idea to reduce the allocated budget for heating costs and shift to capital improvements. I was not an expert in the subject matter but my contribution did end up providing value as after further discussion that is what they ultimately did. I think another aspect to note is that of the sources informed that the textbook brought up. The text seemed to indicate that government and education sources of information are always better in an argument and I am not sure I agree. I think it is important to look at a bevy of sources of varying levels of legitimacy as they all target different audiences. If you are speaking to someone with little knowledge of a subject may not be convinced at all by an academic source as the background knowledge needed to understand may be something they don’t have. Therefore it may be better to give a simplified version of the evidence provided by a less credible source.
In the chapter, the concept of evidence is defined as “a specific instance, statistic, or testimony in order to support a claim in such a way as to cause the decision makers to grant adherence to the claim.” The chapter differentiates the difference between evidence and opinion and how arguments should be based on the basis of strong evidence instead of strong opinion. Although evidence is important, the chapter emphasizes the quality of evidence over quantity. Strong evidence from credible sources is much more effective in proving a point than weaker evidence from unreliable sources. It emphasizes the necessity of recognizing the integrity and bias of the evidence while also taking into consideration the audience in order to adhere to the evidence to them. Lastly, the chapter emphasized that with the abundance of evidence right at our fingertips, we need to be more aware of fake news and be able to distinguish fake news from real, valuable information.
I agree with all of this in that both strong and reliable evidence is necessary for forming a strong argument. When watching strong debaters like Ben Shapiro debate, he often refers to strong statistics from very strong, accurate, and reliable sources such as the census and other studies from strong sources in order to disapprove and disarm his opponents. Because of his extensive knowledge of the topics supported by strong evidence, he often times makes the opposing debaters vulnerable and catches them off guard with actual evidence that disproves their point. I find it very amusing when he presents strong evidence and then the opposing debater is so caught off guard and takes the strong evidence personally and starts getting angry. This disarming by great debaters like ben Shapiro is due to his use of strong reliable evidence that is hard to disprove/argue against.
When I first heard of argumentation and debate class I had absolutely zero idea what to anticipate. My friend had told me to enroll and it made sense since the class I had before was in the room next door and ended shortly prior. I have always been intrigued by argumentation and debate but this class perpetuated my interests. During our class I have learned the difference in many arguments. For example, in yesterday’s class we learned stasis theory and how each argument has fact, definition, quality and theory. The group I was apart of discussed the second amendment gun rights. As many are aware this is an extremely hot button topic in our country. Many states and political parties have different interpretations of the law. This is because there is no correct answers. The law was created by our founding fathers hundreds of years ago so there is no exact definition as time has changed. This is just one of the topics we have learned.
After reading the chapter on Evidence, I quickly realized I had been ineffectively constructing arguments when debating any topic. In Chapter 6, the book talks about one of the most important elements of any argument, evidence. We can point to arguments between friends about their favorite basketball player and the reasons why they believe what they believe. In most cases, neither person was/is present to speak on a personal level on why they think one guy is better than the other. The effectiveness of argument relies on what kind of evidence you can present. What evidence can you present that proves that your argument is has any validity. Yet whenever we hear two friends having these types of debates, the first thing we hear is, “I believe” or “I think”. The chapter on evidence calls this “a mere collection of personal opinions or prejudices.”
I’ve found myself attempting to persuade other people by using my evidence and attaching my feelings onto it. This chapter instead enforces this idea that if you aren’t an actual expert in the area you’re constructing an argument about, rely heavily on the evidence found. This strategy alone will validate your argument. You’re presenting evidence and allowing those facts to do the rest of the work. I recently had a debate with one of my closest friends about who are the 10 best teams in the NBA this upcoming season. As both my friend and I presented evidence proving each of our points, I found that each time we would ask each other the same question repeatedly… How do you know that. Each time we were at a lost for words. We didn’t know how to respond because we aren’t experts. We don’t work in the industry. We don’t have that first-hand information. After reading this chapter on Evidence, I’m more convinced than ever that in order to construct an effective argument we must stick to the facts. Leaving aside any feelings that will inevitably invalidate the entire argument.
In this chapter, the textbook discusses what comes into an argument and how it is able to support and inherit evidence. Evidence was described to be a specific instance in where a claim is made and there is background info or proof to support the claim. The evidence must have certain building blocks to prove its authenticity, which makes the evidence viable. The quality of the evidence is very important in comparison to how much evidence there is. As the textbook says, sometimes too much evidence can leave the audience or opposite side confused and out of focus. There are various types of evidence which varies from law, to the way the public speaks.
Personally, I agree with everything that was stated in the textbook about evidence. There are countless of strong debaters and argumentative specialists that use a heap of evidence to throw off the person they are speaking to, or to persuade the other person to agree with what is being told to them. You often see it in the political sphere where they purposely use undebateable strong evidence and elongated words in order to stump the person they are speaking to. Sometimes we can tell that forces of evidence are not used in order to persuade but rather to “beat” an opponent.
In chapter 6, “Evidence”, the author gives us the many definitions of evidence and the different sources of evidence we use. We have primary sources, which is told firsthand and secondary sources which is interpreted. Within these sources we have five different types of evidence, being; precedent evidence, statically evidence , testimonial evidence, hearsay evidence, and common knowledge evidence. The author also goes into the bias and qualifications of the source. One way the author shows the differences between reliability when it comes to sources, is the different website endings; whether it be .com, .org, .edu, or .gov… He then goes into the different type of audiences you will interact with depending on each situation given it’s context and the testing of evidence. There seems to be a few tests used worldwide, including; recency, sufficiency, logical relevance, internal consistency, and external consistency. Finally the author goes into the ever growing problem of fake news and it’s effect on society. He walks us through a mental way to go through evidence to test and try to fully understand how reliable and trustable it is given where it comes from, what it is saying, and what exactly it is trying to convey.
One part of the textbook that I would like to talk about more is the textbooks remarks discrediting non professionals/experts and their use of “I think, I feel, and I believe”. Regardless of evidence provided, people always bring their biases, whether they like it or not, into every decision and the process behind the way they think and understand certain things given the context. I believe the use of these phrases allow us to get a deeper and better understanding of the way we view certain things in comparison to others, regardless of their credentials, as not everyone will perceive the same thing as one another the exact same way. Limiting a person to what other people feel rather than the way they feel about the topic or evidence themselves bottles their emotions away and brings about someone else’s understanding and pushes it onto themselves. Being able to understand with context and make assumptions based on the way you believe and the way you think and understand certain situations can be helpful in understanding your own stasis and your own beliefs.
The author in chapter 6 deliberates through every angle on how the topic evidence is approached. First, he starts claiming the type of pieces of evidence presented on Napoleon’s death. Then he jumped into the facts of what aspects make evidence valid and acceptable in all manners. As the author argues, there are two factors to consider when it comes to giving credit to evidence; individuals tend not to follow specific steps or rules, and if they do, they do not do it properly. First, the quality of the evidence and how this can be approached to persuade the audience. Second, the accurate interpretation of evidence since the audience must believe you not to create biased thoughts on topics. Moreover, the textbook defines the different types of sources of evidence, where it technically states how the primary and secondary sources can be found and which type of entities are more likely to present fair and accurate information regarding facts and opinions on topics. Finally, the author brought up the potential of Fake News since it seems that this issue is one of the biggest problems nowadays that complies with misleading information in society since individuals do not intrigue themselves to search for more about the news. However, there is a clear explanation of how to approach this issue and how it should be appropriately handled.
One way to connect all these pieces of evidence that the author presents is how communities many times rely on the news since many tend to fit their statements on their agendas, as the author explained in the textbook. For instance, focusing on the Hispanic community. I come from a Hispanic race, and I have noticed that Spanish news tends to grab the audience’s attention by claiming evidence that misleads the facts and opinions of experts on a topic. Also, when ex-president Donald Trump was in power, Spanish News pointed him out as a hater in the community without focusing on the 5 W’s. Not stating that they do not criticize other politicians, but how it was presented made him look like the worst enemy. And why am I saying this is because the high percentage of Hispanics are uneducated, making them easier to convince on a topic.
Well, the reading begins with the history and investigation of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte and makes a distinction between the quality of the evidence and the correct interpretation of said evidence, to later give us a more general definition of what evidence is. We are told that too much evidence can be detrimental to an argument as the audience can be overwhelmed by too much information. We are also told about how the flow of information has changed through the ages and that in contemporary days this flow of information can even be detrimental to all of us who are exposed to said flow and that because of so much information the challenge is rather to find information useful for our argument. The different types of evidence that exist and the different subtypes that exist within the 5 types of evidence are presented, as well as what uses not to give each of these types of evidence.
Moving on to what I have learned from this interesting chapter, well, it all boils down to the correct way to use evidence in an argument, so that it doesn’t feel overwhelming to the audience either because of the organization, the use, or the amount. of the evidence used to support the initial argument. There are also the different types of evidence and their respective subtypes and when it is pertinent to use them as evidence in an argument. And finally there is the issue of how to avoid bias in the face of certain information to which we can feel particularly related, whether for emotional reasons or of any other type. Having said all this, it is important to understand how all these factors are related when presenting an argument before an audience, being the evidence, its use and objectivism when presenting the latter.
I learned from the evidence section what makes a good evidence which is the quality of your evidence and accurate interpretation of evidence. I learned different types of evidence and what kind of sources I can get evidence from. I never knew about the CRAAP Test and how it plays into researching a website and relevance is most important due to making sure the site is always updated. One question I have with using evidence, is there such a thing as using too much evidence. A section I particularly liked was Testing of Fake News which is important. Fake news are sham sites with misleading photos and headlines which are the easiest to debunk. The hardest to debunk is misleading news because it has a grain of truth and they would have an eye -catching headline, but the article’s information doesn’t relate to the headline. Clickbait uses shocking headlines to get people to click on non-related information. A personal experience is when I saw someone create a fake Espn page and used the same photo and font to break news that never happened and they got me one time when they said an athlete was traded to another team. This relates to our class, other classes, just life in general is that we need evidence in general to get a point across for our debates, argumentative papers in school to even a regular conversation with a person.
Evidence is what makes people belief or disbelief. Just like in persuasion evidence is one of the main parts in argumentation and debate. If you’re arguing a certain topic, neglecting to offer credible evidence would eventually weaken your situation even if you’re arguing on the “right” side of the topic. Knowing how to obtain the right evidence is also important. In today’s world, information is everywhere, however, the correct information needs a lot of searching to find, because in an era where rumors are more than truths, it’s hard to differentiate between what’s correct and what’s not. Therefore, as much as it’s important to know how to get credible resources, it’s also important to know how to identify uncredible resources. As mentioned in the book it’s very helpful to look for answers to the questions (Who? what? when? where? why?) when searching for a credible source. It’s also important to stay away from website that are known for having no credibility and to get your sources mainly from books, research papers, educational websites such as those which have .edu in their domain or search for scholarly articles. In conclusion, it’s important to understand that information is a double-edged source, if not used wisely and in a smart way, it could lead to losing an argument or worse.
I believe evidence is very important in arguing, if someone is trying to change another’s beliefs his attempts would be pointless if there’s no proof backing up his words. The chapter lets us know about the importance of evidence and how to obtain the right kind of evidence and to identify credible sources, it also shows how fake news would look like and how to spot them, which helps not only in argumentation but in the process of absorbing information from everyday sources such as social media which is a big source of fake news.
It is clear from Chapter 6, Evidence, that in order to support your statements, you should provide evidence to back up your claims. A person must always be able to provide evidence in order to determine the strength of his or her argument in order to be a successful arguer. For instance, according to the chapter, “To become an effective arguer in almost any context, you need to be able to ask this question repeatedly and test the answers you hear to determine the strength of the evidence.” It is important to understand that evidence can refer to the supporting material used when persuading others, whether it is in the form of speeches or debates. Evidence gives a person and argument a mission to be able to support a person’s argument, and this makes an argument more credible and understandable. Evidence teaches us to be more aware of fake news; in other words, when being able to find evidence, it shows it is real.
As far as argumentation and debate are concerned, evidence is one of the most important tools that can be used to back you up when arguing for your position. What is evidence? According to the chapter, Evidence, “Evidence refers to specific instances, statistics, and testimony, when they support a claim in such a way to cause the decision maker(s) to grant adherence to that claim.” Whatever you are writing, whether it is an essay, a speech, or a debate, evidence is the information that makes you answer the question, “How do you know.” All my years of writing, I have always had to provide evidence in order to always support my claim. This has taught me to rely much more on what someone can prove rather than what someone feels. If you are making a speech or a debate without any shred of evidence in it, your audience will not take you seriously, which is why it is impossible to make a speech or a debate without even a shred of evidence.
It is clear from Chapter 6, Evidence, that in order to support your statements, you should provide evidence to back up your claims. A person must always be able to provide evidence in order to determine the strength of his or her argument in order to be a successful arguer. For instance, according to the chapter, “To become an effective arguer in almost any context, you need to be able to ask this question repeatedly and test the answers you hear to determine the strength of the evidence.” It is important to understand that evidence can refer to the supporting material used when persuading others, whether it is in the form of speeches or debates. Evidence gives a person and argument a mission to be able to support a person’s argument, and this makes an argument more credible and understandable. Evidence teaches us to be more aware of fake news; in other words, when being able to find evidence, it shows it is real.
As far as argumentation and debate are concerned, evidence is one of the most important tools that can be used to back you up when arguing for your position. What is evidence? According to the chapter, Evidence, “Evidence refers to specific instances, statistics, and testimony, when they support a claim in such a way to cause the decision maker(s) to grant adherence to that claim.” Whatever you are writing, whether it is an essay, a speech, or a debate, evidence is the information that makes you answer the question, “How do you know.” All my years of writing, I have always had to provide evidence in order to always support my claim. This has taught me to rely much more on what someone can prove rather than what someone feels. If you are making a speech or a debate without any shred of evidence in it, your audience will not take you seriously, which is why it is impossible to make a speech or a debate without even a shred of evidence.
In chapter 6, which is based on evidence, the author discusses and defines the importance of evidence and how it can be used, but also how to determine if we should rely on them or not. The main lesson is that evidence is a crucial component to any claim in which you would like a decision maker to submit to. Instead of merely unleashing a collection of opinions and prejudices, evidence will be the support that your claim needs. The author talks about the do’s and don’ts when presenting your evidence and how to properly use reasoning to articulate your facts. He then talks about the different types of evidence, when to use them, how to figure out the credibility of the evidence you provide or is being given to. Some of the ways to establish credentials is by taking a close look at the domains said evidence came from. It is necessary to establish the biases, hidden agenda, authority etc of the authors of your sources. An essential way to question that would be through asking the question “How Do They Know”. The author also mentions how in today’s world, we are exposed to so much more information than the average person did in the early ages.
I have a lot of tips that can be used in future arguments whether it is in school, the professional world or outside of that. Presenting your evidence without saying “ I feel, I think or I believe” is a strong skill that I will have to master, seeing that I am not an expert in any of the fields I might talk about. I realized that providing too much evidence can confuse my audience and most likely leave them unpersuaded. I will also make sure to pay attention to the domains being used when someone presents to me so I can question their reliability. In the live debate coming up, I believe that I can use those skills to essentially destabilize the stasis theory of my opponents. The chapter talks about statistics being a source of evidence, in which numeral data serves as the convincing component. My major is Accounting, meaning that in the future my work as a financial accountant will be used by creditors, investors and the public to determine the performance of a company. That piece of numeral data will be trusted by them if they believe that I am a reliable source and have the credentials I need to provide expertise.
Before reading Chapter Six, I had not perceived evidence as having multiple uses, i.e., conclusive and circumstantial proof. After reading Chapter Six, however, I am glad that the author introduced the concepts of conclusive and circumstantial proof and provided examples demonstrating their purposes. In summation, the author describes conclusive proof as compelling enough to set aside any objections to what it is proving. In contrast, circumstantial proof is evidence greater than the sum of its parts. Additionally, though before reading Chapter Six I used some of its aspects intuitively to decipher a website’s credibility, I believe the C.R.A.A.P. test is a thorough and effective way to evaluate a website. The most compelling aspect of the C.R.A.A.P. test is the purpose aspect; if people can sniff out the impetus for a website’s formation, it becomes easier to determine its ulterior motives and biases and view the information it provides through such a prism.
A premise that the author introduced that I don’t holistically agree with is that experts reserve the right to use phrases like “I think,” “I feel,” or “I believe” because their qualifications provide enough credibility for someone to accept their observations. I agree that the certifications a person has allow them to speak credibly on a subject; however, I am uncomfortable granting people holding certifications in a field the ability to use these phrases as a stand-in for evidence. Although they possess the training to remove bias from their thought processes to the greatest extent possible, economists, lawyers, medical doctors, public accountants, and other professions requiring extensive résumés or licenses to practice still have judgment-clouding biases. Furthermore, when such clouding of judgment goes unchecked, individuals who possess this credibility due to their qualifications can make decisions that reverberate through society and have a lasting impact. Thus, for the same reason we would ask the layperson for evidence substantiating their claim about a nuanced subject matter in which they lack expertise, we should require the same from the individuals who possess the knowledge and authority to make crucial decisions on our behalf.
Chapter 6 explains what goes into an argument and how it might support and inherit evidence. Evidence becomes credible when it possesses the necessary components to support its veracity. In contrast to the quantity of evidence, the quality of the evidence is crucial. The audience or opposing party may become disoriented and bewildered when there is too much evidence, according to the textbook.
Evidence is discussed in detail as to how to find, collect, and use it. Essentially this was the offered definition: “Evidence refers to specific instances, statistics, and testimony when they support a claim in such a way to cause the decision maker(s) to grant adherence to that claim.” The chapter opens with a description of the charges brought against Napoleon’s death. It is demonstrated that every charge contained elements of the truth that were supported by the available evidence at the time, but the best explanation could not be found until all of the many viewpoints were brought together. The text continues by establishing various types of evidence and the sources that support that evidence.
I noticed that many were against the suggestion that experts can use “I think, I believe, etc.” while bringing forward an argument. If Elon Musk gave his opinion on a matter that we know he has spent years involved in, I would take his experience as the fact itself, which we usually reference when we are making arguments. At that level of expertise, one can say I do not think that x is viable as we tried z with all the best experts on board and y was the result. Often people of influence are asked about their future projections, and not to believe their opinions more than that of any other person, is inefficient.
You should present proof to support your assertions according to Chapter 6 in order to substantiate your remarks. To successfully debate, a person must always be able to back up his or her claims with evidence that supports them. Even if you are advocating your standpoint of a certain subject, failing to provide reliable evidence will eventually make your case less compelling. With that its crucial to understand how to gather reliable evidence. Information is easily accessible in today’s society, but finding reliable information requires a lot of research since it’s difficult to distinguish between true information and false information at a time when a he says/she says aspects of things dominates. The author discusses the dos and don’ts of evidence presentation as well as how to effectively utilize logic to communicate your facts. Then he discusses the various sorts of evidence, when to use them, and how to assess the reliability of the evidence you offer or is offered to you. Examining the domains where the cited evidence originated is one technique to verify credentials. It’s important to determine the viewpoints, ulterior motives, credibility, etc. of the authors of your material.
The assertion that “only experts can use terms like I think, I feel, or I believe since they have the credentials that allow you to accept their views” was one area where I differed with the text. I don’t think this is a helpful guideline to follow because everyone can find anything and contribute. Your observations can be valuable even if you are not an authority on the subject. Everyone has something to bring to the table on controversial subjects. However despite people’s own experiences, compelling arguments must be supported by both solid and trustworthy evidence not the he says/she says rumors that dominate society.