Reflections VIIII

After Friday’s class discussion about commercials and the techniques they utilize to persuade viewers to think according to their ideals, I remembered the words of my wise Language and Composition teacher senior year. She repeatedly reminded us to “never believe everything that seems to be” as we read the slogans of advertisements and viewed countless commercials. Ms. Hassenplug trained our eyes to note ethos, pathos, and logos strategically weaved through every literary review or political article. We learned how any information that may impress an audience by logical, sympathetic, or ethical means may and often will be exaggerated to gain the greatest support. Fallacies and subtle manipulation of words and statistics are often the most popular methods exploited in a zealous attempt to control and sway the mind, feelings, and moral standing of an audience. Because of the tremendous power these tactics can have over the oblivious, especially, it is vital that information be sent through a “filter” that a person develops as they critically evaluate statements deemed to be facts. Just as overreaction to perceived threats might be harmful economically (Simplicity and Spook), media holds enormous power over our daily environment, and ourselves, if we allow information to squeeze past our “filter” and become spoon-fed fact.