The first step, the ethos, is to establish the speaker’s authority and status. The next step, Logos, is to present a logical argument. And the final step, Pathos, shakes the listener up by appealing to their emotions.
Nearly 2,500 years later, we use this structure not only in oral arguments, but also in speeches, debates, and everyday conversations. But the whispers of Chinese history have distorted Aristotelian structures into unrecognizable forms, defeating their purpose and actually achieving the opposite.
Today’s ethos is superficially constructed through alternate facts, exaggerations, and backroom deals.
Today’s Logos begins with Strowman’s argument and manifests itself as a logical fallacy.
Worst of all, today’s Pathos retains its shape, but is twisted. Rather than appealing to the listener’s emotions, the speaker’s aim is to confuse the other party with a barrage of the speaker’s emotions. This is generally negative, angry, desperate, disapproving, and often unrealistic or greatly exaggerated.
Humans without emotions aren’t humans?
Human culture is like a pendulum – the norms and fads of one generation are countered by later generations – swinging the norms to the other side and the cycle continues. , how it is expressed, and how it is used.
Aristotle was probably the first to put forward the idea of ’balance in everything’, which he described as the ‘golden ratio’. It is never a good thing for society to be extremely close.
For decades, even centuries, our social fabric, especially the West, has become preoccupied with the idea that women are “emotional creatures” while men should be stoic and emotionless. It has taken root.
Over the past three decades, this notion has been challenged, especially as men are encouraged to express their emotions. And “it’s okay for a man to cry” was the roar of an awakened culture.
And in the past decade, the social pendulum has shifted to another extreme, weaponizing the “right” to express one’s feelings. Especially in Europe and the United States, the results of “cancel culture” and “call out culture” are manifestations of this change.
Being emotional, meaning basic emotions such as anger, fear, and despair, is very fashionable today and people have started to express their emotions on behalf of others, like “I”. but not necessarily feeling it. I’m mad at you
Mitigations like “a man without emotions is not a man” are thrown casually, and in the end, the ideal human being in today’s society is a ball of anger and hysteria.
return to moderation
It may take many years for macrosociety to return to the average pendulum, but in today’s context the well-educated people of the corporate world, the small pockets of intellectuals, will be the masters of change in the next era. A determined individual will certainly break the curve, work towards inner-outward balance, and not propagate a “hysterical culture.”
Here’s how to get back to the golden ratio of emotions. First, be aware of the modern “need” to be emotional. Only when we are conscious can we seek inner balance and help others achieve emotional alignment. It replaces negative, primary emotions with higher, positive, complex emotions such as affection, confidence, gratitude, relief, contentment, comfort, and excitement.
The limbic brain prefers basic emotions such as anger, which are easy to perform, to conserve bandwidth. Complex emotions take a little more work, but give better results.
It may take time and effort to replace the emotions a person really feels, but doing this for the emotions a person expresses is certainly a good first step.
Third, it moderates the intensity of the emotions expressed. This naturally mitigates the effects of emotions felt by ourselves and others, leading to productive discussions.
By focusing on what you express, which you can control, rather than emotions, which are obstacles that are hard to overcome, you create a self-fulfilling prophecy in which you begin to feel what you express.
Less is more, especially in today’s climate. Emotionally intelligent people apply the appropriate balance of emotion types and intensities, distinguishing between felt emotions, inputs, and expressed emotions, outputs.
– Atman
