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Rhetorical devices
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Rhetorical devices Reasoned debate needs all the help it can get, even from AI THE descent into a post-truth world continues at a depressing rate. The latest winner of the pants-on-fire award is former US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. In an interview with CNN after a speech in which Donald Trump wrongly claimed that violent crime was rising, Gingrich cherry-picked the facts – then abandoned them altogether. “The average American does not think crime is down,” he said. “As a political candidate, I’ll go with what people feel.” For those trained in critical thinking, this dismissal of a simple fact is baffling, cynical and scary. How and when did facts lose their currency in public debate? And, more importantly, what we can do about it? The answer to the first question is, in part, technological change. Social media allows people with fringe opinions to hook up with
the like-minded, filter out all competing sources of information and let half-truths, lies and conspiracy theories run riot. Even the mainstream is not immune to this “echo chamber” effect. This is a well-documented phenomenon, and there is plenty of pushback. Organisations such as PolitiFact employ legions of human fact-checkers to rate political statements for their truthfulness. Tech start-ups are designing web browser extensions to automatically check internet pages for their veracity. But all this isn’t working; the forces that have set post-truth politics on the march are too powerful to be halted by mere facts. As Clay Shirkey, an astute commentator on the impact of internet technologies, tweeted after watching his social media feed during Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National
Convention: “we’ve brought factcheckers to a culture war”. The weakness of the factual approach is that it tackles only part of the problem. Winning a political argument is about much more than who’s telling the truth. Emotion and authority count just as much if not more. Surprisingly, technology may also be our saviour. AI researchers are working on software that can do much more than check facts: it can also formulate an argument (see page 36), and dissect bad ones to expose the holes. If nothing else such “automated reasoning support” promises a new way to hold powerful people to account, and help people make wellinformed choices. Watch this space for a politician with their pants on fire, spluttering “I think the people of this country have had enough of artificial intelligence…” n
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Join us at New Scientist Live, 22-25 September © 2016 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. New Scientist (Online) ISSN 2059 5387 Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Williams Gibbons (Wolverhampton)
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10 September 2016 | NewScientist | 3
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LOCATIONS UK 110 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6EU Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250 AUSTRALIA Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552 USA 50 Hampshire St, Floor 5, Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE For our latest subscription offers, visit newscientist.com/subscribe Customer and subscription services are also available by: Telephone +44 (0) 330 333 9470 Email [email protected] Web newscientist.com/subscribe Post New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH One year subscription (51 issues) UK £150
CONTACTS Contact us newscientist.com/contact Who’s who newscientist.com/people General & media enquiries Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] Editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268 Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1291 [email protected] Recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 4444 [email protected] UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3787 9001 Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU Syndication Tribune Content Agency Tel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588 [email protected]
Rhetorical devices Reasoned debate needs all the help it can get, even from AI THE descent into a post-truth world continues at a depressing rate. The latest winner of the pants-on-fire award is former US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. In an interview with CNN after a speech in which Donald Trump wrongly claimed that violent crime was rising, Gingrich cherry-picked the facts – then abandoned them altogether. “The average American does not think crime is down,” he said. “As a political candidate, I’ll go with what people feel.” For those trained in critical thinking, this dismissal of a simple fact is baffling, cynical and scary. How and when did facts lose their currency in public debate? And, more importantly, what we can do about it? The answer to the first question is, in part, technological change. Social media allows people with fringe opinions to hook up with
the like-minded, filter out all competing sources of information and let half-truths, lies and conspiracy theories run riot. Even the mainstream is not immune to this “echo chamber” effect. This is a well-documented phenomenon, and there is plenty of pushback. Organisations such as PolitiFact employ legions of human fact-checkers to rate political statements for their truthfulness. Tech start-ups are designing web browser extensions to automatically check internet pages for their veracity. But all this isn’t working; the forces that have set post-truth politics on the march are too powerful to be halted by mere facts. As Clay Shirkey, an astute commentator on the impact of internet technologies, tweeted after watching his social media feed during Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National
Convention: “we’ve brought factcheckers to a culture war”. The weakness of the factual approach is that it tackles only part of the problem. Winning a political argument is about much more than who’s telling the truth. Emotion and authority count just as much if not more. Surprisingly, technology may also be our saviour. AI researchers are working on software that can do much more than check facts: it can also formulate an argument (see page 36), and dissect bad ones to expose the holes. If nothing else such “automated reasoning support” promises a new way to hold powerful people to account, and help people make wellinformed choices. Watch this space for a politician with their pants on fire, spluttering “I think the people of this country have had enough of artificial intelligence…” n
New Scientist Live Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1273 [email protected]
Join us at New Scientist Live, 22-25 September © 2016 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. New Scientist (Online) ISSN 2059 5387 Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Williams Gibbons (Wolverhampton)
It’s here! We’ve finally revealed the full mind-blowing line-up for New Scientist Live, our new festival of ideas and discovery. It promises to be an unmissable experience. In just two weeks’ time, more than 120 brilliant speakers,
60 unforgettable experiences and hundreds of engaging exhibits will be waiting for you at London’s ExCeL centre. Researchers will reveal their work on everything from the origins of the universe to the secrets of your own mind. You’ll be able to order a
drink from a robot bartender, 3D print a model of your own body and save the world from a supervolcano. Turn to the special preview section in this issue for details of what’s in store. Or to book your tickets, visit newscientistlive.com. See you there!
10 September 2016 | NewScientist | 3