| > Because of an epidemic of suicides and mental health issues, the government should provide unlimited free candy to every citizen, to make everyone happier. I just noticed there are actually full performances on Youtube of Erik Satie's Vexations-- a piece written in the 1890s in which the player is asked to repeat a dissonant chorale theme 860 times. That is a common, effective, and ethical rhetorical tactic people use every day in conversation. It's common because people aren't automatons who must respond to every potential point of debate. It's effective because it forces the would-be debater to reveal information. Either they roll with the subject change and reveal their utterance as light novelty and disarm, or they attempt to switch the conversation back to their novelty, revealing themselves as a zealot (in this case). It's ethical because if anyone in the group wants to participate in that zealotry they can continue on the original topic. But everyone else has an easy out through the non-sequitur. And it works just as well if the initial utterance was a truth told to an ignorant crowd. Those who want to know more can break off without the entire group being forced to become students. Finally, if the interlocutor misjudged the situation, the non-sequitur is ignored and the conversation continues unabated. In all cases DOS is avoided. If a medium doesn't support this tactic you might want to question the efficacy of the medium. |
"That is a common, effective, and ethical rhetorical tactic people use every day in conversation."
What is a common, effective, rhetorical tactic? Repeating something dissonant forever? I do not follow