3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Sowing Confusion
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Sowing Confusion
The Vagueness of Language, Chewbacca Defense & Inferring Motivation
I. The Vagueness of Language
Essayist and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb on language:
We invented language to be vague, if you can sort of see what I mean.
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes
VI. Chewbacca Defense
The Chewbacca Defense is a legal strategy that aims to confuse by deploying an elaborate nonsense argument enriched with needless repetitions, logical fallacies and irrelevant conclusions. It originated from a South Park episode mocking the closing argument of the O.J. Simpson trial:
Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, I have one final thing I want you to consider. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!
Why would a Wookiee, an 8-foot-tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of 2-foot-tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense!
Look at me. I'm a lawyer defending a major record company, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberatin' and conjugatin' the Emancipation Proclamation, does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests.
—Johnnie Cochran, South Park 2x14 ‘Chef Aid’
Note, even if your own argument is intelligent and well-reasoned you may be wrongly accused of having mounted a Chewbacca Defense. Hence the term Chewbacca Dilemma.
IX. Inferring Motivation
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s life hack in case you find yourself ruminating about someone’s motives:
If you cannot understand why someone did something, look at the consequences — and infer the motivation.
—Carl Jung
If someone uses vague language, which keeps you from understanding what they mean, consider that this is what they wanted to achieve. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com