“the great crow fallacy”
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“The Great Crow Fallacy”. A reader response to a chapter from unSpun By: Brad Saunders and Cole Rosenbaum. It’s Clinically Proven!!!. This presentation is clinically proven to raise grades on tests in AP Lang. Take notes!. Overview. The Article Connection to 1984 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
A READER RESPONSE TO A CHAPTER FROM UNSPUN
BY: BRAD SAUNDERS AND COLE ROSENBAUM
“The Great Crow Fallacy”
It’s Clinically Proven!!!
This presentation is clinically proven to raise grades on tests in AP Lang. Take notes!
Overview
The ArticleConnection to 1984Connection to Weasel WordsContemporary ExamplesMLA Citation
The Article
Story ≠ Data Don’t confuse anecdotes with data
Anecdote: a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident (Marriam-Webster)
Crows Want repeated results through experimentation
The Article (cont.)
Perspectives don’t always show the whole picture Personal experiences are very narrow Impact of media and government
What you’re not told can be more important
The Article (cont.)
Emotions can cloud an argument. Dramatic stories yield attention Football players and fertilizer
The Article (cont.)
Some studies are more accurate than others. Who stands behind the information? Does the source have motivation? What data collecting methods were used? Age of data? Any assumptions? Any guesswork? Want “convergent evidence”
The Article (cont.)
Repetition ≠ Truth Groups repeat ideas, especially involving fear Causes people to believe claim is true Crippling death tax bills
Only 1.17% of estates taxed
The Article (cont.)
A huge claim requires huge evidence. Groups exaggerate data to make extraordinary claims In order for extraordinary claims to have substance,
must be proportionally supported
The Article (cont.)
The myth of “Clinically Proven” Replicated results needed Quality of the test Cold-Eeze
The Article (cont.)
Expertise is non-transferable. Just because you’re a doctor on TV does not make you
knowledgeable in the field of medicine Analyze what background endorsers actually have
The Article (cont.)
Appeals to popularity Why…
“top-selling” “number one” “preferred over…”
Large marketing budget, supply…
Connection to 1984
Don’t always see whole picture Party limits what citizens of Oceania see Leads to incorrect conclusions Example from unSpun
Gulf War and smart bombs
Seeing vs. Believing
Connection to 1984 (cont.)
Use of dramatic stories Constant drama and triumph of wars Keeps citizens caught up in commotion and keeps
them enthusiastic
Connection to 1984 (cont.)
Saying it doesn’t make it true Repetition throughout Oceania
Big Brother War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is Strenght
Connection to Weasel Words
Main Ideas Groups with motivation will manipulate evidence Claims/evidence are falsified lead audience to draw
conclusions As the audience, we must analyze sources A world without analyzing sources is Oceania
Contemporary Example #1
President Obama’s State of the Union speech Number of Americans currently working
Obama: 2 million Americans currently have jobs
Obama’s Economic Advisers: 1.5 million CBO: between 800,000 and 2.4 million IHS: 1.25 million Macroeconomic Advisers: 1.1 million Moody’s economy.com: 1.6 million
Contemporary Example #1 (cont.)
Bringing down health care deficit Obama claimed CBO could bring deficit down to $1
trillion over the next 20 years CBO reported that it could be as little as half of Obama’s
number for the same 20 A very rough estimate: CBO generally projects for a 10
year max Projected deficit
Obama claimed a $3 trillion deficit when he took office + a total deficit of $8 trillion in 10 years
CBO projected a deficit of $1.2 trillion by the end of the year + a total deficit of $3.1 trillion in 10 years
Contemporary Examples (cont.)
John Kerry’s exaggerated cost of the Iraq War. Kerry claimed the cost to be above $200 billion CBO: cost of the military operations alone was $93.7
billion OMB: military operations + rebuilding Iraq +
supporting coalitions = $119 billion Kerry’s estimate included cost of the next year +
protecting U.S. cities + operations in Afghanistan Not mentioned in his speech
Wrap Up
Studies aren’t always accurateSources aren’t always honest
TOP SELLING
PREFERRED OVER…
CLINICALLY
TESTED
MLA Citation
Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. “Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All.”
Language Awareness. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2005. 442-452. Print. Excerpt from
Doublespeak. By William Lutz. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Jackson, Brooks, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. “The Great Crow Fallacy.” Unspun: Finding Facts in a World
of Disinformation. Illus. Signe Wilkinson. New York: Random , 2007. 105-125. Print.
"Kerry Exaggerates Cost of War in Iraq." FactCheck.org. Ed. Lori Robertson. Anneberg Political Fact Check.
Web. 09 Feb. 2010. <http://www.factcheck.org/kerry_exaggerates_cost_of_war_in_iraq.html>.
"Obama's State of the Union Address." FactCheck.org. Ed. Lori Robertson. Anneberg Political Fact Check.
Web. 09 Feb. 2010. <http://factcheck.org/2010/01/obamas-state-of-the-union-address/>.
Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classics, 1977. Print.