Be Clear
To effectively rebut misinformation or persuade others, arguments must be presented clearly, understandably, and persuasively—often requiring significant effort in preparation and presentation.
THE IDEA
Be clear
Imagine that you’re flying across the country and your seatmate engages you in a conversation about immigration or race relations or abortion or global warming. (We don’t recommend this, but it happens!) Your seatmate may be wrong; you know it; the person on the other side of them knows it; the flight attendant knows it. If there is any hope of convincing this individual, you need to be clear. A deluge of unordered facts never convinced anyone to abandon their previous beliefs. Your arguments need to be clear, understandable, persuasive, and preferably free of jargon. This usually requires as much effort, often far more effort, than it took to spot the bullshit in the first place.
For more serious rebuttals in your professional life, the presentation is as important as the argument. As we tell our students, effective refutation is hard work. For us, creating a clear presentation often requires creating and refining visualizations, developing a null model, creating a synthetic data set, testing the argument with friends, and double-checking to be sure we are not missing anything. The good news is that we can all get better at these things. The bad news is that we can’t possibly do this for every piece of bullshit that we find. Pick your battles. And when you have found your battle, make sure you win it. Do your homework in advance, and be clear in expressing your rationale.
When to use it
Debating a contentious topic with a friend or family member to avoid misunderstandings.
Presenting a counterargument to a business proposal during a team meeting.
Writing an op-ed or blog post to correct a common misconception.
Teaching a student how to structure a persuasive essay or argument.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Airplane Seatmate Debate
A seatmate holds a strongly opinionated view on immigration. Instead of overwhelming them with scattered facts, you prepare a clear, logically structured argument with simple examples and avoid jargon, increasing the chance of a productive conversation.
Professional Presentation of a Counterargument
At work, you need to refute a flawed proposal. You invest time in creating clear visualizations, developing a null model, and testing your argument with colleagues before presenting a well-organized, persuasive rebuttal.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Think of a recent disagreement you had. How could you have presented your argument more clearly to make it more persuasive?
When you spot misinformation, what criteria do you use to decide whether it's worth investing the effort to rebut it clearly?
How can you simplify complex ideas without losing their core meaning when trying to convince someone?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Calling Bullshit The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World (Carl T. Bergstrom Jevin D. West)