My sister has never been a great debater. To defend her position (not that I'm sure what that position is) she argued the Slippery Slope. So here was how I saw it --
- Dad's friend mentions sex education for kindergartner's
- Sister makes an acknowledgment of disgust towards the topic having heard it on CNN
- Other commentary rises
- A lull in the conversation
- Me -- points out the miss-information and corrects the topic by providing context.
- Sister says -- Yeah, well that is a slipper slope
Of course, that got my sister in a position where everyone was trying to provide their opinion and convince her to change her own. My self included. I felt slightly bad -- that's brotherly love.
What really bother me about the "Slippery Slope" argument is it has no position of substance. Not to mention that it can be used to support either side of the argument; it is a straw man. I mean someone might say that legislating "Abstinence Sex" is a slippery slope, because it leads to a government sponsored religion. Or that providing health care to poor children is a slipper slope, because it will lead to a national health care system.
This Slippery Slope argument is used so that instead of saying "Oh, I am mistaken in my position. If what you say is correct then I'd agree," they can then say "Oh, Well that is a slippery slope...If you follow it far enough there are a million What ifs"
Why are people afraid to have their opinion changed? Is it really that bad for you to say "I'm not familiar with that topic, where can I find more about it?" Or are you so afraid of what could be a remote possibility?
I like to read my news on the Internet over watching the television. The reason is that if a statement is made, I can Google it to get context. If I cannot find anything of reference I can then disregard the writer as a poor example of a reporter and move on knowing that such a writer is not worth my time. With television you get a personality who pushes an opinion, and is on daily and is only held accountable by the ratings. So I have very little impact on the ratings -- I have to turn off my television, stop buying from the advertisers, write letters complaining, etc. I think people who do the foot work on the Internet can find the transcripts, the video, and the context. You don't have to depend on a system to be truthful to you, you just have to be honest with yourself.
