Proof and Discourse Communities

Thinking about Proof

As I’ve mentioned before, essays are records of your thoughts on a subject, presented in a reader-based way. By “reader-based” I mean that you attempt to provide an audience with your perspective as opposed to writer-based prose that doesn’t consider audience reception. For instance, the following paragraph is classically writer-based prose:

Technologies are important to our everyday lives. I know I couldn’t live without my cell phone. It’s such a necessary part of me, and communication without it would be impossible. Technology always improves, so we’ll be getting newer and better technologies with each passing year. Pretty soon, they’ll plant a chip in our brains that will control us because they want to sell us everything. Who knows? Maybe my future cell phone will mark me as a leader because I will always consume the latest and never lag behind. Therefore, I will always know how to use new technology.

It’s important to recognize that the above paragraph isn’t writer-based because the author is explaining his or her thoughts. It’s perfectly fine to include one’s experiences in essays and present beliefs (although not everyone aggress it should be explicit…that’s another topic, though). However, it’s better for the author to explain how he or she arrived at a conclusion than to assume the audience holds the same assumptions. Being of a particular culture means many ideas are generally accepted and need no explanation for like-minded audiences, but a more effective strategy for a writer would be to think critically about how he or she came to accept an idea

Phrases to watch out for because they signal writer-based prose are the following:

Absolutes:
Everybody recognizes…
It’s always the best choice…
No one ever considers…
We never approach [subject] this way…

Conventional Wisdom:
Most people would assume…
Our society considers…
It’s obvious we should conclude…
Based on statistics…{especially if you don’t provide statistics}
Based on evidence…{especially if you don’t provide evidence}

Also, not having proof—evidence, quotations, and logical arguments—is writer-based prose because the author needs to justify his or her arguments and not assume assertions will stand by themselves. Additionally, the above phrases do not mark writer-based prose 100% because, with sound evidence or argumentation, a writer may support the statements that follow the phrases. However, it’s always a good idea not to rely on absolutes. {Did you catch the paradox I just made?}

Disclaimer: I’m biased towards writing that is efficient (ok…not all agree with that statement) and well-supported using proof and sound logical arguments. Some disagree that “reason” should govern arguments because that system of logic ignores or denigrates affect, emotional ways of knowing. To go further, I’ve been told that privileging formal logic and reason is a male-oriented way to behave and limits truth seeking to a hegemonic notion of epistemology, one that requires formal(ist) study as in academic epistemology. Others believe that there can be alternative ways to privilege truth seeking and knowledge making; specifically, they (these elusive “others” I’ve just defined myself against) privilege social-epistemic ways of knowing, truth seeking that’s community defined and, therefore, not universal as Logic claims. What the two views come down to is Epistemology vs. epistemologies.

What does your audience privilege?

I, Robot Concerns

How did we go from issues about our I, Robot essays to a discussion of philosophies of knowledge? Well, let’s get back to your I, Robot essays. Based on my experience (in academia, generally, and rhetoric, specifically), I believe the discourse communities in which you engage or to which you aspire will privilege logical reasoning over affective argumentation. Your audiences will expect evidence, examples, and empiricism over hunches, feelings, and guesses. In fact, your “guessing” won’t be a guess; it’ll be a formally constructed hypothesis.

When you communicate with your audiences, they won’t necessarily expect academic essay arguments, but they will expect you to prove your position. There are several ways to prove one’s position, but assertions—unsubstantiated statements—rarely have clout by themselves. This isn’t to say that expert opinions do not carry weight, but becoming an expert requires playing by the rules of the discourse community. Your I, Robot essays can help you think more about presenting arguments to an audience that wants evidence.