The Persuasive Power Of Supporting Evidence

Could it be that people who support one position are convinced they are right, and those who oppose it feel the same? According to this article, yeah! Evidence is powerful in persuading us of something. The more evidence we have backing up our claims or opinions, the more confident we become about them.

This is especially true when you're faced with a decision; having plenty of evidence shows that you've done your research and thought through all your options- which ultimately leads to an easier decision for yourself.

The author, James C. Scott, points out that only after a few generations do people start to accept the new technology and lifestyle changes that were brought to them. People who look at things through this lens are more likely to view change as positive AND they become proactive with their actions. They aren't waiting for someone else to set the future agenda- they take the initiative themselves when possible and can confidently make their own decisions.

I think this article is very interesting but I didn't put it into my top five articles of 2010 because it's not an original concept; there are already tons of articles out there on how evidence affects us and what we do with it. What I will say is that it was very easy to grasp and I think that few people would argue with the research presented.

It give me some new perspectives on how we should perceive data and how to interpret it. For example, instead of looking at a graph as telling us all we need to know about the situation, Scott points out that we should look at the data as raw material with which we can build new models, allowing us to see ourselves in a different light (just like engineers build bridges using raw materials). Instead of looking through the lens of numbers and graphs, I can start looking through Scott's lens in my research work.

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Title: When Numbers Lie: On Terror, Death and Statistics [ARTICLE START] "What the hell is this?!", said my classmate when he saw the article I was reading on a break. He had taken a look at the picture accompanying the article and was confused- he wanted to know why there were 997 bananas in the picture when only 994 people had died from terrorism. Turns out that this article simply exposes the misuse of statistical data, Terrorism and our unwillingness to face the truth.

The article was written by Bob Altemeyer, and he is a retired professor emeritus who has spent his life analyzing cults (including the Manson family). Let me go ahead and get something clear- based on what I know about Bob Altemeyer from his writings, I am sure that he is no fan of Charles Manson or any other cult leader. What we see in this article though is a simple discussion about how statistics are used for manipulative purposes.

In the article, Altemeyer looks at how we "make up" numbers to provide false proof. Numbers are not what they seem. Take a look at the picture with all of the 997 bananas. Why were there so many bananas? The numbers tell us that there were 997 dead people in Afghanistan because that's how many people died from terrorism in this last year alone. It doesn't matter that another country, Pakistan, had 15 times as many deaths per capita- it was only the Taliban and suicide bombers killing people.

The article notes that the 9/11 attacks are not the only terror attack on US soil- that's because we have a history of making up numbers to suit our own purposes. Altemeyer says, "What does it mean to say that 19 hijackers have been implicated in the September 11 attacks, for example? This number is much closer to an accurate count than it would be if one were to examine all persons whose names appear in wire-service reports on the subject."

The numbers you read can be very misleading. We know that there were thousands of people who died from terrorism this year; we don't know what the real death toll was because nobody cares enough to count each dead person. We don't care because we've already made the decision to fight against terrorism because of 9/11, regardless of the actual data.

The author says, "Once our minds have been made up on an issue and we want to influence others, we are even more reluctant to let facts interfere with our case...we should not expect truth to emerge from an encounter between well-trained experts armed with facts and a poorly informed public – particularly when the latter's opinions have already been polarized"

It scares me that expert data can be so badly distorted. I need confidence in my research; if numbers are being distorted or just plain wrong, then everything I've worked for has been for nothing. I need to be objective. I can't let experts influence me or mislead me.

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Title: The Upside of Quitting [ARTICLE START] This article has been sitting on my iPod for a long time and I've decided to share it today because it's not a regular article; predicting the future is my weak point- but this article had me hooked from the first paragraph.

The author, Dan Pink, was a consultant for AARP and he wrote this article in the New York Times. He's written many other books but this is the first one that I read- so I decided to share my impressions of it. First of all, he talks a lot about his own story and how quitting his full-time career as a performer made him more productive at work.

He says that there are two types of people- those who love their job and those who do their job. He writes, "Although some people claim that extreme commitment is linked with greater happiness, research indicates that this is mostly the result of having an extremely busy life rather than an unusually high level of joy. Most successful people I've met on both sides of the ledger seem to have a similar relationship with the job they do."

He mentions a survey that found that 87% of people love what they do, 4% are unhappy and only 7% are very happy. Well, I know that 7% is really high but it does say that most people aren't very happy in their work; this is why I recognize all of the people who say "I just need to be happy doing my work"- they're still engaged and motivated. However, Dan Pink says something else. He talks about how we tend to find fault in our jobs and then quit because we can't stand to stay at what we do.

Conclusion: The Upside of Quitting

I was surprised that Dan Pink had so few words about how quitting actually makes life easier and better. I also agree with him that if you don't find value in your job and you stay longer, it's because you may still be in denial. You can't ignore what makes your unhappy- instead of fighting against the truth, you may end up dealing with it and accepting it.

He says, "If the job is a good fit and we have a strong commitment to our work, we can accept that there are problems with it without giving up on the entire career." Being honest with yourself will make things a lot easier.