Strong Statements Aren’t Strong At All
(…but they make good click bait.)
Hi! We’d like to talk to you about “strong statements” – statements that can be shocking, debatable, or oversimplified.
And also about “strong arguments” – which tend to be logical and convincing.
People sometimes use strong statements as if they are strong arguments. But those are different things.
The title of this post is a strong statement. But it would be hard to make a strong argument that the title of this post is true.
“Strong” statements are strong in some ways. They can convey a forceful mood, or catch people’s attention. They can prompt people to be more certain and militant about opinions they already have. They can make people feel obligated to take a side. They can be a shortcut to expressing yourself when you don’t have the time, skill, or energy to use gentle and precise words.
In reality, we just think “strong” statements are less convincing than most people seem to think they are.
Sometimes it seems like because what you have to say is important, you should say it in the strongest terms possible. It can even feel like a moral obligation to speak up for your side forcefully.
Really, it depends on what you want to accomplish. When people hear something that disagrees with their beliefs too much, they tend to dismiss it out of hand.
A persuasive statement might be one that is harder for people to dismiss out of hand. Or a statement that the other person technically agrees with, but that has difficult implications for their argument.
Sometimes it’s the most understated or “weak” statements that end up being the most convincing.
If an idea is true and very important, then getting people to agree with it or think carefully about it is a good thing.
When your main goal is to be convincing, it’s useful to sometimes explain your deeply held beliefs in mild terms. It can make your argument stronger and more difficult to dismiss.
Even when it feels like it’s the other way around.
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