Totally Irrational

Maybe I've just been oblivious for many years, but our lecture on Monday about how irrational we as humans can tend to be really struck me.  For example, the other day I nearly succumbed to that impulsive feeling I get every time I hear of a sweet deal on a new bike.  I had to step back and think about why I felt so strongly impelled to buy the sleek new 2015 edition of the most aerodynamic bike in the world.  Somewhere in the back of my mind was some creature toying with my reasoning skills, saying that I needed a new bike. Much of that thought process, presumed reasoning, was entirely irrational.  I admit, if the color scheme had matched my socks, I may have gotten it.

Other examples of being irrational occur daily, such as eating everything on your plate because there are starving kids in Africa, or getting a Ferbie because everyone else has one, or building bomb shelters in small-town Iowa, or eating ice cream for 3 months because you got dumped. 

So much of persuasion has to do with appealing to the senses. Yes, especially the irrational ones.  Gorgias is very cynical of the sneaky ways that philosophers manipulate through "trickery and magic" (10).  He even goes as far to say that opinion is "slippery and unsteady" (11).  Throughout his entire discourse he highlights several of the different irrationalities that may have pervaded the thoughts of men and women in those days. For example, he speaks of erotic desires, fear induced by frightful spectacles, opinions, love, and speeches. Some of these may still influence us today.

It’s interesting how Gorgias weaves his discourse by an appeal to reason.  He emphasizes the irrational, which seems to make him appear much more rational.  This reflects the rhetorical figure of prosapodosis.