MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What it actually is
  2. 2Reading a claim
  3. 3Weighing evidence
  4. 4Judging sources
  5. 5Your own thumb on the scale
  6. 6Claims with numbers
  7. 7Cause and effect
  8. 8Persuasion techniques
  9. 9Information online
  10. 10Building the habit

Chapter 8 of 10

Persuasion techniques

Recognising the machinery.

Common moves

Urgency, scarcity, social proof, a strawman version of the opposition, a false choice between two options, and emotive framing of neutral facts.

  • Urgency exists to prevent checking. Slowing down is the counter.
  • Notice when a story is doing the work that evidence should.

Framing

Ninety percent survival and ten percent mortality are the same fact and produce different decisions. Restating a claim the other way round is a quick test of your own reaction.