Emotion and Argument

July 1, 2007 · Filed Under Science and Technology

People often accept a weak argument when they want a claim to be true and reject a strong argument when they want a claim to be false. I have thought about this and have a simple explanation. By simple I mean simplistic. I don’t understand the relevant cognitive science at all so the actual underlying process is probably a lot more complex.

I have drawn a diagram of a model of a simple argument below. The magnifying glass is the evidence and the exclamation mark is the claim or conclusion. The black arrow is the inference connecting the two.

Below is a weak argument. The weakness of the argument is shown by a lightly shaded arrow. If the claim is one that a listener has an emotional stake in, they will ‘emotionally fortify’ the connection between the claim and the evidence. I have represented this by drawing a swirly red line in the same direction as the black arrow. The listener will perceive the argument as being far stronger than it really is.
The process can also work in reverse. As shown below, a strong argument (represented by a darker black arrow connecting the evidence and the claim) is being weakened by the emotional resistance of a listener that has an emotional stake in the claim not being true. For them, it is as though the argument is much weaker than it really is.

It appears to me that this is an invisible process. Everyone is affected to some degree. But awareness of your own tendency in this regard may help you to ‘factor in’ your own biases. If you see many people accepting claims that you regard as very weak, extra caution should be exercised to ensure that it is not your own emotional bias that is weakening the appearance of the arguments. Conversely, if you accept claims that others regard as very weak, you should double check your reasoning (perhaps by writing it down) to ensure that your emotions are not strengthening an otherwise weak argument. Of course, the emotional strengthening and weakening is occuring in others to so you cannot rely upon most people to get things right either.