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As you know, persuasive writing
5
is a common assignment in an
English class.
To what extent might Cummins
agree with the student in this
image?

©Mark Andreson, www.Andertoons.com
Changing the World

without further scrutiny while subjecting evidence the order in which their responses occurred in the
that contradicts their views to intense scrutiny. discussion, and how the responses were worded.
Researchers at Cornell University recently Some of the results jibed with common sense.
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took a different approach to the question of • Persuasive arguments tended to use calm
how to get people to change their minds: They words rather than emotional words (such as
analyzed social media. terrorist) or “dominant” words that imply
ChangeMyView is an active […] community of control (such as completion).
over 200,000 members on Reddit that allows users • They tended to be longer, including greater
to present their opinions and to invite others to numbers of sentences and paragraphs. In
contest them. If the ensuing discussion causes other words, one-liners and rants rarely
them to change their minds, they acknowledge persuade people.
that they’ve changed their minds and explain • It was also heartening to find that posts
what in particular it was that they found containing citation links to external sites were
persuasive. Some of the opinions posted included more persuasive. So evidence does seem to
“People don’t define who they are, their genetics play a role in changing minds.
and environment do," “Zoos are immoral,” and • Original posters who use the word “I” rather than
“I think that the vast majority of Bernie supporters “we” when describing their opinion tend to be
are selfish and ill-informed.” That last one more open to persuasion, as are those who avoid
received over a thousand comments in one day.
using dominant, emotional, or “superlative”
The researchers analyzed a number of factors, 10 words (such as “worst” and “dumbest”).
including the number of people who responded,
Other results were more surprising:
1 Tan, Chenhao, et al. “Winning Arguments: Interaction Dynamics • Words that are emotionally neutral or slightly
and Persuasion Strategies in Good-faith Online Discussions.” “downbeat” are more persuasive than upbeat,
Cornell University, February 2, 2016. https://arxiv.org/
pdf/1602.01103v1.pdf happy words.
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Distributed by BFW Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

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