After reading Dennett’s Intuition Pumps, in which he invites you to pay more attention to certain words in arguments by suffixing them with “(ding!)” whenever they appear, I’ve installed a regex browser plugin for the purpose of training myself to “ding” whenever I come across certain words in text.
I’m still experimenting with my personal list. The two words Dennett draws attention to are “surely”, (which he claims is an indicator that the arguer is pleading at the edge of what they are in fact sure about), and “rather”, (which he claims will commonly hide a false dichotomy).
After reading Dennett’s Intuition Pumps, in which he invites you to pay more attention to certain words in arguments by suffixing them with “(ding!)” whenever they appear, I’ve installed a regex browser plugin for the purpose of training myself to “ding” whenever I come across certain words in text.
Which words?
I’m still experimenting with my personal list. The two words Dennett draws attention to are “surely”, (which he claims is an indicator that the arguer is pleading at the edge of what they are in fact sure about), and “rather”, (which he claims will commonly hide a false dichotomy).
“Just” is another good one. More here.