Context is a really important thing.
I say that, because so often people like to put things out of context in order to make a point about something that's a bit sketchy to begin with. Or to create the illusion that something is different from how it really is.
So they put together some documentable facts and point to them as "truth," except those facts are lacking context. Important context that would expose the fact that they actually aren't important at all. But those who are clever at fabricating their arguments will often stretch the truth by supporting what they have to say with things that actually aren't very meaningful.
It's something that is commonly done in politics, but applies to pretty much any conversation in life.
"A majority of people prefer dogs."
It's just an example, but a statement like that can be made to sound like this "majority" represents most of the population when in fact all you need in order to be able to say that the majority of something holds true is that 50.1% of the people in question has a particular preference.
And, when questioned on the validity of your argument, you can point back to that as an absolute and say "well, but that IS a majority" and not be caught in a lie. It is, however, also a relatively meaningless statement that contains very little emphasis.
I guess the reason I get tired of these sorts of verbal debating shenanigans is that so many arguments being made these days seem to be based around deceptions and manipulations rather than as a result of truly being able to stand on their own.
Makes me wonder whether people are becoming fearful of holding their own convictions, separate from being lumped together with some group or cause. The "me too train" seems to have a lot of power, these days... while individual thought grows scarcer.
Part of what led to this post was a conversation with someone who kept quoting groups and articles to get a point across without ever getting to the point of sharing what their personal opinion was.
I guess it felt a bit phoney because it was almost as if they were removing themselves from their own opinion.
Begs the question of whatever happened to pride in our individualism, at least here in the USA. Instead we often resort to group-think, perhaps because it has become risky to stand out from the crowd.
But why do YOU hold a particular opinion?
Context matters. For example, the topmost photo was not taken through my (a) window, but through a bit of interesting fence in my neighbor's yard. But without that context people would likely come to an incorrect conclusion.
In this case, that would be pretty harmless... but that might not be if the illusion is meant to mislead.
Sometimes I just grow weary of all the misleading jargon. Or, at least, I get weary of feeling like I always have to be on my toes, in case the next semi-plausible words represent yet another attempt to deceive.
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2023-10-05 01:08 PDT
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