Rhetoric is not just rhetorical

Should rhetoric be taught today in schools, as it once was? The art of persuasion is useful both to listener and speaker.

Rhetoric was for millennia one of the main pillars of western education, but today people on the internet demonstrate that they have little understanding of it. Perhaps, so that we can deal better with trolls, we should bring it back to the curriculum.

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, by all manner of means: tone of voice, choice of words, manipulation of emotions, use of logic, presentation of facts. People who know nothing about it can fall victim to those who have the gift of it.

Though I did accidentally forget to name the last canon of Roman rhetoric - delivery - happily I was talking at the time about an example of delivery (slowing down and going quiet for effect).

Course featured, "Introducing Argumentation and Rhetoric" taught by Professor David Zarefsky, Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University.

"The Great Courses Plus is currently available to watch through a web browser to almost anyone in the world and optimized for the US market. The Great Courses Plus is currently working to both optimize the product globally and accept credit card payments globally."

The spelling of 'optimise' in that statement was optimised for readers in the USA.

Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.

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[ki]

33 minutes of Lloyd talking about rhetoric? What could possibly be more fun?!

[Lizardperson]

Lloyd, Mr. Beige, You know by now that you could make a 2 hour video on ancient Mesopotamian basket weaving and I would watch it at least twice.

[linusverclyte]

This man is a great teacher. Regardless of conscious manipulation (rhetoric) or simple natural talent.

[Pilafcg]

17:30 "and the rich guy gives an amazing speech written for him by a professional speech giver who used to be a lawyer" I'm in tears. Such a classic

[OneOnOne]

I've been in favour for a long time of teaching children in schools to interpret statistics properly and to dismantle bad arguments and reason logically (and most importantly recognise fallacious arguments). Mostly for the political reasons. Because you can't have a healthy democracy where the people elected actually represent people's best interests if people are not sufficiently educated to figure out what those interests are or who's representing them. And if the politicians aren't incentivised to defend themselves through logic, but instead to vaccuous arguments and platitudes. Because that's part of the problem. They work so politicians use them. Let's put a bigger focus on this in education and make them not work anymore. Only then will they stop using them and only then does democracy have a chance of rising above people's worst instincts and actually working towards the good of all.

[armsrace]

Lloyd with your elegant voice and debonair demeanor, you'd make a great teacher of rhetoric for the Great Courses Plus.

*(That was flattery btw- it's an appeal to an emotion)*

[JimFortune]

Ethos, Pathos, Logos and d'Artagnan.

[verdatum]

I'm a software engineeer. I spend most of my day writing code. Still; rhetoric is possibly the best course I've ever taken. I had no idea it was such an amazing subject before I started. I think it should be required in high school. I took "speech" instead because it's what my school required. It's night-and-day different from a proper schooling in rhetoric. I think requiring rhetoric lessons would go a long way towards making Internet discourse a better experience.
I've been pushing the fine folks at Crash Course to do CC Rhetoric for the past year now. It might just happen.

[jacobmartinez]

As an american I had a teacher that taught almost exclusively rhetoric in my high school English class. It isn't the standard here for that to happen but I specifically remember how much fun the class actually was because of it. We'd go through controversial speeches and articles and every sentence someone would shout out a rhetorical device used, and then we would apply the concepts learned to a class debate about the topic. Breaking down weak arguments and discovering ways of using rhetoric to further our own was incredibly useful and enjoyable, and I still use what I learned from that one class today. Great vid as always Lindy!

[mcdolan]

Can we just appreciate Lindy does these videos in one take?

[lfteri]

We, here in Greece, are taught the most basic of rhetoric in school, so as to right the most convincing essay. Sometimes there are task where we have to actually come up with false, yet seeming like true, arguements. Σοφίσματα

[PvtRyan-keof]

Me: I should stuy for my english oral exam!
*this video pops up*
Me: Well, he's a brit, that should do it

[Raz.C]

I don't get it. Why do we love watching Lindy so much?
I'm convinced he could make any topic interesting.

[cdshull]

After Cicero spoke, the people remarked how well he spoke, when Demosthenes spoke, the people said "Let us march".

[LegitimateBusinessPerson]

11:05
Holy shit, when you went quiet you got my attention opposed to your shouting before it... Thats crazy. Next time I am presenting something I'll be sure to use that trick.

[larodelahozpreziuso]

I may be imagining things, but isn't It an amzing coincidence that as soon as education started being open to the lower clases rethoric disapeared from school curriculums.

[BekkiUndSo]

My chemistry teacher did the silence thing all the time when we were in our teenage years - and accordingly annoying, especially paired with chemicals and Bunsenburners - and it worked better than every other method teachers tried. I am convinced that it has made an impression on all of us.

[peterdabski]

this channel has mountains of character, such an (at first) seemingly low-quality format works so well and is incredibly entertaining to watch

[Makrdsa]

I loved this one especially as I am enamoured by the creatura that rationality is. Your videos connect entertainment, in the form of your persona, with satisfaction of curiosity, in the form of the information you provide, in perfect proportions. Personally, the longer the video, the better. I am glad I found this channel!

[Achilles_Immortal]

11:19 Can confirm works. Sitting here doing a drawing listening to old beige, and this part made me look up to focus on the sudden quiet. Rhetorical psychology is neat.