joe ferrare's blog

Read an interesting look at the role of eloquence in decision making and persuasion.  It was written by Sir Francis Bacon, and what he did was break down how we think things through by looking at how affection and reason act on how we think.  Here’s the quote.  It’s short, if a little heavy going.

The difference is, that the affection beholdeth merely the present; reason beholdeth the future and sum of time. And, therefore, the present filling the imagination more, reason is commonly vanquished; but after that force of eloquence and persuasion hath made things future and remote appear as present, then upon the revolt of the imagination reason prevaileth.

I think he’s using the word imagination slightly differently than the where-we-make-things-up kind of imagination most people think of these days.  If he’s not, I am, so I’m going to switch to calling it thinking.

Basically, things that are more immediate carry more weight in our thoughts.  So, of the things we’re thinking about, the things we like are  immediate and the things coming from our reason are distant.  Affection wins not because what we like is better, but because we feel what we like more and give it more weight in our thoughts.

But if we apply a little eloquence in the service of persuasion, it brings those distant things closer, giving them greater weight. Once that happens our perspective changes and reason prevails.

I think this explains, among other things, every pep talk every given. Take the Braveheart speech, for example.  Here’s the relevant bit:

Wallace: And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight?

Veteran soldier: Fight? Against that? No, we will run; and we will live.

Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live — at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!!!

Wallace and Soldiers: Alba gu bra! (Scotland forever!)

Those guys clearly had great affection for their own lives and limbs and would dearly liked to have kept them. Wallace uses eloquence to transport them into an imagined future — making “things future and remote appear as present,” as Bacon said.  And so they fought.

I use this as the parent of an 8-year-old all the time.  Kids are much closer to their feelings and rely on their reasoning less, obviously.  So you have to explain things to them in a way that makes them feel the distant and remote and save part of their allowance for the future.

It also explains lots of sales pitches, especially for things that don’t fill an immediate need or want.  You need that gold. The future is bleak, the dollar is inflating/deflating/being gnawed at by a mouse in your mattress.  Suddenly, paying a bundle for a piece of metal that somebody else may end up actually holding for you makes sense — at least for the salesman.